SPS and clean up crew?

[d0ughb0y]

I think snails are highly overrated. They'll never clean your glass fully, they can die, they make an uncluttered tank look cluttered, and they just move nutrients from one form factor to another (while adding their own to the mix!).

For sand you are better off with a goby. Maybe throw in a fighting conch. For rocks? Get a fish that grazes instead. You're better off cleaning the glass yourself. Throw in some crabs/shrimp/starfish and you're good to go.

I completely agree.

CUC don't have a concept of cleaning. nothing beats manually cleaning. for hard to reach areas (that even cuc cannot get to), bacteria will do the job.

when I had a goby, it turns my entire sand bed (the whole sand bed), every day.

as for 100 snails, if you get those dwarf snails, then it is not enough. they die left and right and add to your nitrate problem.

some cuc won't hurt, no need to go overboard. as long as you do not overfeed, and have enough flow to keep fish poop from accumulating in dead spots, you can get by without a cuc.

 

[batt600]

No. If you don't have sand, don't get any nassarius snails. I personally don't like astreas because they can't right themselves when they land upside down. I have banded trochus (my favorite), cerith, nerite and nassarius. I have maybe 15-20 trochus and cerith, and half as many nerite and nassarius in my 120. You don't need a hundred of each like some stores suggest. Mexican turbos are good if you ever have a problem with hair algae. I also have a serpent star, a cleaner shrimp, a few scarlet reef hermits and a fighting conch to help stir up the sand. You may want to rethink the sally lightfoot. They're pretty cool looking (IMO), and mine was constantly picking algae off of the rocks. I got nervous after reading that they become aggressive when they get bigger, and may go after smaller fish. Wound up getting rid of him.

I have a BB tank and have nassarius snails thay been in the tank for 6m with no problem

 

[sandhog]

I find red legged hermit crabs do a good job of cleaning.I have even seen them eat hair algea.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

in my 220

in my 220

the cuc is made up of bristleworms (which are the best cleaners by far IMO), stomatella snails, mini brittlestars, 3 "emerald crabs", and a whole lot of microfauna.

 

[rmalone]

I agree bristle worms are excellent cleaners, and free too, they can get to the spots hermits only dream about. Same goes for the little bristle stars.

I sure wasn't trying to step on any feet but 30 snails in a 200g system is plenty, I was shocked to see some people are doing over 100 snails AND 100+ hemits. I don't care for hermits, they just seem to irritate lps to no end and they seem lazy to me.

For hair algae in a 200g system, obviously nutrient management is first and foremost, but after that Tangs can't be beat. I'm surprised anyone has a 180g + tank without 2-3 tangs. It's not even a reef without a few tangs.