How many ?
- Thread starter MOOSE1504
- Start date
DanEnglish
New member
depends on the bioload and types of inhabitants. also on how you end up having to feed depending on said inhabitants. the 1-2 per gallon rule seems like a darn lot. i have 1 arrow crab, 1 coral banded shrimp and about 4 blue leg hermits in a 110 reef. that said, i feed carefully frozen foods, have a huge skimmer, and a huge clam which help with the water quality. I would start out with maybe 10 and slowly build up your tank monitoring nitrates etc. the key here is SLOW.
JeremiahChua
New member
Most things in the hobby have no real rule set in stone. However, many people "need" some sort of rule or guideline to follow by to make them feel better and at ease when doing something they are unsure about.
With that being said, the rule for CUC can vary from 1 per gallon to 1 per 2 gallons. However, this is most definitely NOT necessary to follow! Those are just guidelines that people have come up with for the types of people who "need" this sense of rules to proceed.
Each individual's aquarium will happily accept a different number of CUC inhabitants. You just have to see what amount fits for you. Larger organisms generally means you want less of. Smaller means you can have more of. So if you go purely on small hermits and small snails, then start with 10 or so (combined) and escalate from there. Monitor your aquarium and see if there's a lot of food to go around for them all. If you feel like you need more, add more (maybe 5 more? Or whatever you feel comfortable with). If you go for larger organisms like starfishes or large shrimp species, then perhaps you want to get one shrimp, one star (make sure it's reef safe if you're building a reef tank) and 5 hermits?
Mix and match. Take size into account and know that these guidelines do not work for everyone. Take it with a grain of salt and modify it accordingly.
With that being said, the rule for CUC can vary from 1 per gallon to 1 per 2 gallons. However, this is most definitely NOT necessary to follow! Those are just guidelines that people have come up with for the types of people who "need" this sense of rules to proceed.
Each individual's aquarium will happily accept a different number of CUC inhabitants. You just have to see what amount fits for you. Larger organisms generally means you want less of. Smaller means you can have more of. So if you go purely on small hermits and small snails, then start with 10 or so (combined) and escalate from there. Monitor your aquarium and see if there's a lot of food to go around for them all. If you feel like you need more, add more (maybe 5 more? Or whatever you feel comfortable with). If you go for larger organisms like starfishes or large shrimp species, then perhaps you want to get one shrimp, one star (make sure it's reef safe if you're building a reef tank) and 5 hermits?
Mix and match. Take size into account and know that these guidelines do not work for everyone. Take it with a grain of salt and modify it accordingly.
MOOSE1504
New member
well put thanks, Im 100% new at this saltwater stuff and i dont want to mess up, kill a bunch of things and hurt the bank if you know what i mean.
BEASTIEPENDENT
Member
Well if You are so new than read read read. There ARE no guidelines as "10 crabs in 80 gallons" or something like that. It's impossible! Stars? There are stars like mice and stars like elephants, just as an example, and the same meets crabs or snails or whatever else You'll ask. This question is way too undifferentiated to answer properly.
SushiGirl
Premium Member
Also take into consideration what there is in the tank for them to eat when you put them in. If you don't have any algae, snails aren't going to have anything to eat. Hermits won't either, so you'll have to feed them food. Starfish need an established tank unless you're talking about the mini brittle stars, buth they'll also need something to eat.
I didn't put any snails in until I started to see some film algae on the glass, so I got 6 ceriths (55 gallon) knowing that an algae bloom was coming soon. Algae bloom hit & 6 ceriths weren't cutting it, so I just added 4 medium-sized turbos this past weekend. We've got about 20 hermits in there (someone gave us 15 at a club meeting a month ago LOL), so they had to be fed but pick at the rocks now that there's something to pick. My boyfriend bought 3 mithrax crabs after the initial 5 hermits, and we had to feed them until there was something to pick.
I didn't put any snails in until I started to see some film algae on the glass, so I got 6 ceriths (55 gallon) knowing that an algae bloom was coming soon. Algae bloom hit & 6 ceriths weren't cutting it, so I just added 4 medium-sized turbos this past weekend. We've got about 20 hermits in there (someone gave us 15 at a club meeting a month ago LOL), so they had to be fed but pick at the rocks now that there's something to pick. My boyfriend bought 3 mithrax crabs after the initial 5 hermits, and we had to feed them until there was something to pick.
