Top Detritus eating clean up crew?

[endlessblue]

Looking for peoples experiences with their top clean up crew, there are so many to choice from. I'm adding new members just looking for an all star team!! Thanks

 

[sedor]

I really like cleaner shrimp and hermit crabs for the detrius side of the CUC.

 

[allsps40]

^ yep. Sand sifting stars, pods, bristle worms, and skimmers are great at eating detritus.

 

[Jorgens]

No matter how large my clean-up crew. Always seems to be more ditritus than critters to eat it.....

Haven't found any "rock star" cleaners so curious to see who chimes in!!!! =)

 

[klepto]

I am a mini brittle star fan (Ophiurida). They breed readily in captivity and can help control detritus and excess food. Plus they add a cool element of biodiversity to any tank. I also have a large serpent star (I believe it is a Ophiolepsis superba) which does a great job of cleaning up leftover food.

Bristleworms are rabid detritivores and will not prey on live coral tissue. They could arguably be the most effective detritivore in our closed systems, simply because of the sheer volume of leftover food/ decaying matter that they can consume.

 

[Makenna]

I have had great success with th following mix:

Lg Nassarius snails
Sand sifting stars
Scarlet hermits
Astera snails
Various Conchs

Cover all areas and don't get in each others way

 

[endlessblue]

Sweet thanks the sand sifting starfish is something I am missing!!

 

[reefWW96]

Sand sifting cucumbers are excellent! They actually ingest dirty sand, and when they poop it out it is very shiny and white. My sand is never dirty and i have:
-sand sifting starfish
-sand sifting cucumber
- nassarius
- nerites
- serpent star
- few others ornamental snails

 

[feluette]

its not a detritus eater but i think emerald crabs are great and you should get some

 

[SushiGirl]

Sand sifting stars will eat everything in your sand, including all the beneficial critters, just FYI. Once they clean that out, you'll have to try to bury food for 'em.

 

[scubasteve06]

I have the following in my tank
-Cerith Snails x35
-Very Large Turbo's x5 (not the mexican turbo's they deserve cooler waters than our tanks)
-Nassarius Snails x15
-Scarlet Reef Hermits x10
-Large Neon Blue Hermits x10
-Red Legged Hermits x45
-Blue Legged Hermits x15

This combo has done well for me, but I still have to siphon detritus every week or other week to keep sand clean. Despite my cyano issues I am having, I just started carbon dosing today so I'm hoping that it will help a lot as I've seen some pretty outstanding results from it!

 

[ezhoops]

Sand sifting stars will eat everything in your sand, including all the beneficial critters, just FYI. Once they clean that out, you'll have to try to bury food for 'em.

+1
yes alot of things mentioned here are actually bad for your sand bed. Shrimps in general eat all the good things in your sand bed.
sand sifting stars do just that sift thru the good and eat it, which will leave you with more poo and algae problems. Stick with nassarius snails, bristle worms, micro brittle stars, cucumbers. It will take time to repopulate them but in the long run they will handle the junk. conchs wont work either

 

[89Foxbody]

In my tank I have about a dozen or so Blue Leg and Red Leg hermits, a few Margarita and Astrea snails, probably 5-6 turbos, a tiny little starfish, and a small brittle star. They seem to do a pretty good job cleaning up.

 

[sneakerpimp]

+1
yes alot of things mentioned here are actually bad for your sand bed. Shrimps in general eat all the good things in your sand bed.
sand sifting stars do just that sift thru the good and eat it, which will leave you with more poo and algae problems. Stick with nassarius snails, bristle worms, micro brittle stars, cucumbers. It will take time to repopulate them but in the long run they will handle the junk. conchs wont work either

How do cucumbers not eat the beneficial organisms in the sand bed that the sand sifting stars and gobies do?

Also I have a cleaner shrimp and two peppermint shrimp and I can't see what they would eat in the tank.

 

[ezhoops]

How do cucumbers not eat the beneficial organisms in the sand bed that the sand sifting stars and gobies do?

Can't answer that but if you check out this site you can let us all know.
http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic111974-11-1.aspx

Also I have a cleaner shrimp and two peppermint shrimp and I can't see what they would eat in the tank.

"I also have 3 peppermint shrimps and a coral banded shrimp. are any of these shrimps good or bad for the sandbed?"

And therein is your root of your sand-bed problem. These animals are death on the sand bed and will eat any of the animals you could get to keep the bed going. So - cancel any advice about adding animals to the bed, adding any sand bed fauna would be simply providing an expensive meal for the shrimp. These shrimp are major predators on small sand bed animals (and rock work small animals as well). Additionally, they have been removing any animals migrating in from the refuge tank. Providing you don't want to remove the shrimp, your best bet will probably be to regularly siphon/vacuum the bed to remove the debris and detritus. Advice given by Dr. Ron Shimek

 

[sunil6784]

Fighting conch...

 

[Vegas.]

Spionid worms...

 

[sneakerpimp]

Can't answer that but if you check out this site you can let us all know.
http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic111974-11-1.aspx




"I also have 3 peppermint shrimps and a coral banded shrimp. are any of these shrimps good or bad for the sandbed?"

And therein is your root of your sand-bed problem. These animals are death on the sand bed and will eat any of the animals you could get to keep the bed going. So - cancel any advice about adding animals to the bed, adding any sand bed fauna would be simply providing an expensive meal for the shrimp. These shrimp are major predators on small sand bed animals (and rock work small animals as well). Additionally, they have been removing any animals migrating in from the refuge tank. Providing you don't want to remove the shrimp, your best bet will probably be to regularly siphon/vacuum the bed to remove the debris and detritus. Advice given by Dr. Ron Shimek

Thanks a lot.

This changes the way I'm going to set up my system. Shimek seems like he really knows this stuff. I'm glad I only bought two peps instead of 6 or more at $20 each that my LFS owner recommended. The two peps I have haven't touched the aipsasia anyway.

 

[romanr]

Worms (bristle, spaghetti) and cucumbers.

 

[akdylpcikles]

Depending on how big and how Lin your tank has been setup a seahare. I have seen 3 yerold takes have gem for over 2 years! An still going strong