scum sucking bottom dwellers
- Thread starter m-fine
- Start date
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
Good luck with this one. Let me wrack my brain for a day or two!
I wasn't thinking along the lines of need as much as helpful and interesting.
I have a couple of conchs that moved off the rocks and are cruising the bottom now, but I was also thinking maybe some reef safe crabs or stars might help get stuff in the hard to siphon spots and add some movement.
I have a couple of conchs that moved off the rocks and are cruising the bottom now, but I was also thinking maybe some reef safe crabs or stars might help get stuff in the hard to siphon spots and add some movement.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
I'd avoid crabs. An Ophiuroid type star would be an excellent choice.
gary greguire
Premium Member
my serpant stars never seemed to mind the BB.
I thought cukes needed a sandbed hmm maybe I'll try one. I definitely need a couple stars. I have a few of the mini ones but they never come out of the rocks. I can sometimes spot an arm come out to grab some food floating by, other wise I wouldn't even know thry were in there.
I was thinking about trying an emerald mythrax crab. I hear they eat bubble algae and generally leave corals a anemones alone. Has anyone tried them or the Marchal Island Electric Blue Hermits that Marine Depot sells? I know crabs are risky, but for some reason I really like them and I can always move them to the fuge if they are naughty. I actually have a zoo munching hermit in there at the moment.
I was thinking about trying an emerald mythrax crab. I hear they eat bubble algae and generally leave corals a anemones alone. Has anyone tried them or the Marchal Island Electric Blue Hermits that Marine Depot sells? I know crabs are risky, but for some reason I really like them and I can always move them to the fuge if they are naughty. I actually have a zoo munching hermit in there at the moment.
Stephany
New member
I think most crabs will leave coral alone if they are well fed. The thing is, though... if say a small colony of zoanthids are not doing well in your tank, they may decide to eat it before you have treated it with a lugol's dip.
In regards to hermit crabs, they all need plenty of empty shells laying around otherwise they will kill and rob your snails'
shells. This is true for the electric blues as well.
If you do want crabs, a way of making sure they are well fed is by dropping a piece of thawed brocolli on the sandbed. My hermits went after it, and I was able to feed Most of my other corals without a problem.
But I still had to stand there & monitor every dinner.
Especially stuff that was "climbable" such as my caulastrea.
If the hermit was closer to the caulastrea with food, than the brocolli on the sand... they'll take the shortest path to a full meal.
In regards to hermit crabs, they all need plenty of empty shells laying around otherwise they will kill and rob your snails'
shells. This is true for the electric blues as well.
If you do want crabs, a way of making sure they are well fed is by dropping a piece of thawed brocolli on the sandbed. My hermits went after it, and I was able to feed Most of my other corals without a problem.
But I still had to stand there & monitor every dinner.
Especially stuff that was "climbable" such as my caulastrea.
If the hermit was closer to the caulastrea with food, than the brocolli on the sand... they'll take the shortest path to a full meal.
sailfinreef
New member
not all cuke's need sand, with that being said Im probably wrong but I had one that would at night time send out tentacle type probes from the mouth and filter feed. it looked like a tigertail sand cuke but I am near positive it wasnt, for that matter it might not have been a cucumber at all
moriartiholmes
New member
Shrimp are underated detrivores.
