I need a scavenger/clean up crew!

[IrJohn]

First post, but I've been lurking quite some time now I have a 90 gallon FOWLR tank that consists of two medium triggers, Picasso & Niger along with a large Australian Harlequin Tusk, a medium Striped Dogface Puffer and a medium Snowflake Eel. Oh yeah, a good sized Conch. As you all know having an aggressive tank means messy eaters. I would really like a clean up crew or some sort of scavenger to pick up uneaten food. Snails are a no thanks to the conch eating them, the harlequin takes care of any type of crab/crustacean so what are my options? I'm really surprised the conch has lasted this long but of course it moves at night. I'm tempted to buy a bajillion red legged hermits and call it a day but I'm afraid it'd turn into an expensive meal lol

Is there ANYTHING I can have in this tank that will scavenge and not get eaten? I had thought about trying a larger sized crab or red reef lobster but am afraid it would eat fish while they are sleeping... Maybe an urchin but then I've also heard triggers enjoy eating them.

Thanks for your time

John

 

[IrJohn]

I forgot to mention I grow chaeto in the sump and the tank has been running for about a year

 

[randomfishguy85]

i would suggest damsels but you already have quite the bioload.try to find really large hermit crabs. They have some that are as big as golf balls. thier shell is too hard for most fish to get through.

 

[humaguy]

just get a bunch of hermits and crabs...can buy them in bulk from reefs2go....they will learn to venture out only after lights are off...sometimes they will get picked-off by the trigs but that is okay..great snack for the trigs and allows them to act like the natural predators they are...even huge hermits, I have some fist-sized will get picked off eventually...

 

[IrJohn]

Right on guys! I picked up an urchin earlier and so far so good! I say medium triggers but I forgot how big these guys really get, they are about 4''. The harlequin being about 8 and puffer about 6. The snowflake is maybe 18".

Would it help if I introduced the crabs into the tank at night when the lights are off?

 

[randomfishguy85]

Would it help if I introduced the crabs into the tank at night when the lights are off?

it wouldnt hurt, why not.

 

[IrJohn]

Worth a shot haha another noobish question, I feed frozen brine and frozen krill. How often should I be feeding?

 

[randomfishguy85]

i would skip the krill altogether. it is known to give puffers lock jaw. Brine shrimp doesnt have much nutritional value, so i would skip that too. In my opinion the best thing to do is just go to a grocery store, buy some seafood and make your own. It isnt very difficult and your fish get a variety, which is what they need. In the mix you could add shrimp, squid, scallops, octopus, fish fillet, nori, selco, vitachem and so on. Also consider picking up some clams, opening them partially and letting the fish have a good time trying to get the clam meat.
Another point to consider would be using a feeding stick to feed the eel. Without the stick the eel will eventually accidentely bite another fish. Due to thier poor eyesight, they have a tendency to go pretty crazy when they smell food in the water column and just bite at anything that looks solid.
Also consider getting your fish to eat a quality pellet food. It is much more convenient, and provides all the neccesary nutrients. my puffer doesnt eat them, but my trigger love them. New life spectrum is a good brand

 

[IrJohn]

i would skip the krill altogether. it is known to give puffers lock jaw. Brine shrimp doesnt have much nutritional value, so i would skip that too. In my opinion the best thing to do is just go to a grocery store, buy some seafood and make your own. It isnt very difficult and your fish get a variety, which is what they need. In the mix you could add shrimp, squid, scallops, octopus, fish fillet, nori, selco, vitachem and so on. Also consider picking up some clams, opening them partially and letting the fish have a good time trying to get the clam meat.
Another point to consider would be using a feeding stick to feed the eel. Without the stick the eel will eventually accidentely bite another fish. Due to thier poor eyesight, they have a tendency to go pretty crazy when they smell food in the water column and just bite at anything that looks solid.
Also consider getting your fish to eat a quality pellet food. It is much more convenient, and provides all the neccesary nutrients. my puffer doesnt eat them, but my trigger love them. New life spectrum is a good brand

Thanks for the tips! I've been meaning to go to the local deli and pickup some fresh seafood, especially the clams. I've read alot on that method and seems the harlequins enjoy it especially. I do use a feeder stick to feed the eel and puffer as well, i only pour the brine in and "target" feed with the krill. I suppose I could store the "grocery store" food just like the krill? I keep it in a cup of tank water and thaw it upon feeding, then refreeze.

I am done spending $ on buying fish now my focus is feeding, whether it be live, pellets, etc. I've also purchased a fiddler crab from petco and fed to the harlequin, bad idea?

 

[jcmjoe]

I took shrimp, clam , some Nori, squid and some brine shrimp, grind them pretty course(or however you want depending on size of fish) and mixed in selcon and garlic guard. mixed it all up and laid it flat in a ziplock bag and froze it so it makes a nice sheet then I break it off as needed and my fish love it! The New Life Spectrum pellets are awesome also as Randomfish guy said. My Dogface Puffer loves em. I do the whole clam too and let my puffer tear it open since its good for them to keep their teeth trimmed down. Have fun.

 

[randomfishguy85]

i dont know if feeding the fidler is a bad idea to be honest. I could see it being bad if it turns out thats all it wants to eat.

I took shrimp, clam , some Nori, squid and some brine shrimp, grind them pretty course(or however you want depending on size of fish) and mixed in selcon and garlic guard. mixed it all up and laid it flat in a ziplock bag and froze it so it makes a nice sheet then I break it off as needed and my fish love it! The New Life Spectrum pellets are awesome also as Randomfish guy said. My Dogface Puffer loves em. I do the whole clam too and let my puffer tear it open since its good for them to keep their teeth trimmed down. Have fun.

I prepare my food the same way. If you need a little more instruction on how to make your own food, Go on youtube and look up "limpets reef". He has a video of him making food and he has great tips. Just remember that reef food is gonna be different than fowlr food because of the size of the food and the ingredients. You obviously arent going to add phytoplankton or rotifers.

 

[Monkeyfish]

When I had an aggressive FOWLR (trigger, angel, etc.) the best clean-up crew turned out to be a Dardanus Megisto. The trigger liked to chew on his legs, but the crab would litterally just shrug him off and keep on walking.

Had him for 2 years and he never bothered the fish. His last shell was 9" long. I donated him to the Long Island Aquarium when I changed the tank to a reef.

 

[jcmjoe]

Im sorry to get off topic there. I have a pretty equal mix of blue and red leg hermits and a couple snails in my tanks and they do a great job. I also have some bristle worms in there too that came in on some live rock, watched my dogface eat about a 2 inch long one the other day!