Prepping my clean-up crew, help with list?

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splix

New member
With all the research of clean-up crews, some people have crazy amounts of snails and etc. I dont think I need that much right away because my tank isnt hugely established just yet, but I'm already growing some algae type things on my live rock, and before it gets out of hand I want to get a crew going.

I'm probably planning on adding them in phases. Here is what I'm planning on phase 1.

12-15 Trochus snails
5-7 Scarlet Hermit crabs
2 Cleaner shrimp
1 Fire shrimp
2 emerald crabs
1 urchin

Does that look good? Any issue you see with it? Any add/deletes? I'm running a 155 gal DT with a 30 gal sump with refug.

I'm also thinking of adding a tang due to what I think is Grape Caulerpa starting to take on my live rock.
 
I would replace the emerald crabs with Mexican turbo snails. I would avoid any of the true crabs truthfully. When they are small, they are fine, but as they get bigger they will start unscrewing fish heads.

What species of urchin are you considering?

Scarlets...some say they are docile, some will tell you they will kill snails. Really depends on who you talk to. So I'd really weigh how much risk you are willing to take. I love hermits though, much more interesting than slimy old snails.

I think the cleaners may fight if they aren't a mated pair, but I could be wrong. Input from more qualified people can help there.
 
I think you'll be ok with the scarlets. Yes, very peaceful. Dwarf Red tips also seem peaceful. Blue legs have a bad rep with some folks. They're very energetic and travel almost constantly. They might be little murder machines but they're so fun to watch it's worth it. Dwarf Zebras can get big and pushy but I've never seen mine messing with snails, mostly smaller hermits, which I'm almost convinced is from hunting bristle worms in empty shells. Electric Orange Knuckles also seem very peaceful, which is interesting, considering the size they can get.
 
All my DRT hermits got banished to the sump for murdering snails and each other. JME.
 
Just to show it's different for everyone, I have about 10 dwarf blue legged hermits in my biocube. All of them are model citizens except for one. He is a murderous thug. It's like he sees any shell slightly bigger than his as a personal challenge to grow into. They were all the same size three months ago when they were dropped in, now 9 are still about that same size in the same shell, but this one rogue is now about the size of a quarter and frankly, is starting to scare me.
 
LOVE Mexican Turbos!

Just a bit of a delay with them right now due to warmer weather. Wanted to get some into QT ASAP for months but no luck :(
 
All crabs are opportunistic. They will eat whatever they want whenever they want.

I like to keep a mix or species.

Snails
Trochus
Astrea
Cerith
Nass
Tiger conchs

Crabs
Blue leg
Red leg

Shrimp
Cleaner
Peppermint

Also keep a blue tuxedo
 
I like my scarlet hermits and dislike all other hermits.

If you are set on emeralds try to get females, they stay smaller and some say they are more docile than the males. I do not like them, mine really liked to pick at SPS polyps.
 
I'm with the others that' won't get Blue legged hermits or emerald crabs. My Emerald was a model citizen until he got over an inch point to point and then he started attacking fish. He wound up eating my first Royal Gramma unbeknownst to me. I figured it died in the rocks as it was very skittish and ran very hard into a small hole in a rock. So I got another one. Well this one was great out all the time eating like a pig and then one morning there was the Emerald crab in the sleeping spot of this RG and he was eating it. Emerald crab to the sump and has been there ever since. Saw him a while back and he is HUGE.

Same for my blue legged hermits they killed each other and snails just to take a shell that was 10x too big for them. They are all in the sump

My 3 scarlet legged hermits are amazing. One thing when you put them in they will just sit there for a day or three, they're not dead don't know why but this is what they do until they are fully acclimated then off they go. Do a great job of cleaning sand and rock.

Snails Love the Mexican turbos, Trochus Cerith, Astrea and Nassarius. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE my Stomatellas, I've got quite a few of them best hitchhiker ever!
 
Lol speaking of huge crabs, I need to get a shot of that stone crab that's growing like a weed in my sump. Dude is beyond gigantic now. Easily 5".
 
I ended up with a tux urchin, 15 blue hermits (tiny ones), 1 emerald (i'll watch him closely) 5 torchus. I figured that was enough for my tank with phase 1. I didnt want to spike the ammonia. I'll add more when I'm a bit more established.
 
As someone else stated, everyone is different.

I personally wouldn't keep any Urchin or Emerald Crabs in my DT. I'm on the tiny Blue-legged Hermit Crabs team, along with the Scarlets. I don't like the Red-legged Hermits at all.

Mexican Turbo Snails kick butt, but almost to their detriment. They do a fantastic job, then run out of food and starve. I like Black Margarita Snails for my rockwork, and Astraea Snails for the glass and in-tank equipment. Nassarius Snails keep your sandbed churned and Serpent Sea Stars are good for getting into the little nooks and crannies. Proper husbandry is a given, but a solid CUC helps a lot IMO, and they earn their keep by both cleaning and keeping me entertained. :bigeyes:
 
Bent said:
Lol speaking of huge crabs, I need to get a shot of that stone crab that's growing like a weed in my sump. Dude is beyond gigantic now. Easily 5".
Click to expand...

Man, that's approaching claw eatin size!!!! Once they are big enough break off the claws at the body and put the crab back in the tank. They regrow rather quickly. You'll thank me after you try steamed Stone crab claws. I look forward to seeing the thread on it.
 
I posted this and not even an hour later my emerald crab was munching on a frogspawn that I had added last week now he's in the sump lol
 
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