Wife really wants a Blue Spot Toby Puffer but the thought of having a reef tank without snails, hermits, stafish and shrimp just seems odd. Going to be a 60g cube with softies/LPS/mushrooms and zoas (heard they may eat some). Does a CUC really make that big of a difference in terms of visible algae? Or does superior parameters, good refugium, good skimmer and some elbow grease make for a cleaner tank?
Tank without a CUC ?
- Thread starter Tzwizzle
- Start date
Reef Frog
New member
I run a 65 gallon aquarium with a minimum of algae eating snails. My algae control comes from use of GFO and regular maintenance. Snails can be pretty cheap one ordered in bulk. I don't know if that fish will fit in your aquarium, but you might consider ordering them once or twice a year.
kevin32
Member
Which snails if you don't mind me asking.
reefgoddess808
New member
My puffer recently died so I am finally able to get some shrimp in my tank. Prior to his passing he would nip at snails mostly. He seemed to leave the crabs alone.
Reef Frog
New member
I have just a few ceriths & Astraea from the algae eating group, & narsarius (forgive the misspelling) for meat eaters & sand sifting. They are the survivors from my start up 3+ years ago & I never bought more as infigured that they are at the balance the tank's ecogy can support. One thing I do like is they lay eggs which tells me the tank is healthy & may provide food for the tank. If I ever kept predatory fish, the only mobile inverts I'd really miss would be Fire cleaner shrimp.
My CUC lives off of algae and detritus. Rocks are visibly cleaner. Glass clean too, but that's no big deal. I don't think I could keep my sand as filth free without my CUC.
You should get at least nassarius snails and something for some algae cleanup.
this is not a cheap hobby so maybe adding invertebrates to your tank regularly knowing part of them will become puffer snacks.
You should get at least nassarius snails and something for some algae cleanup.
this is not a cheap hobby so maybe adding invertebrates to your tank regularly knowing part of them will become puffer snacks.
something to read http://coralmagazine.coverleaf.com/coral/20100708#pg1
I did not read that.
sea hare and bigger porcelain crab could be theoretically big enough to be safe
and salarias fasciatus is also quite effective
I did not read that.
sea hare and bigger porcelain crab could be theoretically big enough to be safe
and salarias fasciatus is also quite effective
jdaniels175
New member
just restarted my 50 with no cleanup crew. I will add some inverts, but not for this purpose, just cause I like them. algae situation seems to be fine.
+1
Similar threads
