I have kept saltwater fish on and off for the last 25 years, during that time I have learned a lot but I certainly wouldn't consider myself and expert. One thing I have always taken for granted is my CUC, I always have some snails and crabs in my tank but I have never really paid attention to what I am doing...a little of this, a bit of that but never any real method to the madness. I recently took down my tank and rebuilt it and one of my goals with this build is to pay a bit more attention to the CUC. Does anyone know of any good write ups in regards to those animals that make up a CUC? Something that says you need this snail because of this, if you have this snail then you don't need this other snail, etc.
Understanding the Clean up Crew?
- Thread starter blackcows
- Start date
567234ta
New member
To me a CUC isn't a very good answer for cleaning, Snails can be a real pain, if a turbo falls on its back and cant get up it dies there. You might as well throw an oyster in the tank to rot. Hermit crabs can be pretty good at eating algae but i like them because they eat the little bits of food left over. But they also kill each other and snails if they want their shell.
You should try to have a tank that is clean by proper water flow, filtration, proper lighting and water changes by yourself first, once you achieve that think about a clean up crew, and read about the life cycles of each critter, their good and bad sides.
example-
If you have one hermit crab get like 10 empty shells a little larger than him progessively. The easier it is for them to find a comfortable shell the less likely they fight. They will fight anyways, so too many is gonna end up with just the right amount for your tank, but having a hermit carcass laying there rotting isn't going to clean your water.
So the best thing is to just take it slow with adding anything, and certainly don't expect a CUC to fix the errors of the tank owner. every tank is different, so pics of your tank, the sump setup, all the info on it and you will get much better precision in the replies.
But you are right with you need this because of that, let the that come first though.
You should try to have a tank that is clean by proper water flow, filtration, proper lighting and water changes by yourself first, once you achieve that think about a clean up crew, and read about the life cycles of each critter, their good and bad sides.
example-
This would be a good job for a hermit crab or skunk/fire/peppermint shrimp. You dont need an army of them, just a few will get the pieces out before they rot, depending on tank size that is. firs and peppermints tend to stay in a certain are if there are other shrimp, shrimp are territorial.
If you have one hermit crab get like 10 empty shells a little larger than him progessively. The easier it is for them to find a comfortable shell the less likely they fight. They will fight anyways, so too many is gonna end up with just the right amount for your tank, but having a hermit carcass laying there rotting isn't going to clean your water.
So the best thing is to just take it slow with adding anything, and certainly don't expect a CUC to fix the errors of the tank owner. every tank is different, so pics of your tank, the sump setup, all the info on it and you will get much better precision in the replies.
But you are right with you need this because of that, let the that come first though.
IMO I think hermits do a great job b/c they forage the rocks and the sand. BUT they have a tendancy to eat snails for their shells. I have a 55 gallon with 3 hermits and about 12-15 nassarius snails and a bunch of dwarf cerith snails and they keep my tank pretty clean. I figure I'd rather have hermits to pick up the excess waste than snails to clean the tank sides b/c we can do that easily with the magfloats. nassarius snails keep the sand bed stirred and nice clean sand.
I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for or not, but here are a few websites with good information on individual clean-up crew species particular traits:
http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/articles/119
http://www.peteducation.com/category.cfm?c=16+2158
http://www.reefcleaners.org/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=4&Itemid=58
http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/articles/119
http://www.peteducation.com/category.cfm?c=16+2158
http://www.reefcleaners.org/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=4&Itemid=58
I haven't had a crab of any kind in my tanks in about 5 years and they have not been missed one bit. I do have plenty of Nassarius, a couple Turbo's, lots of Stomatella, a couple shrimp, a conch and a serpent star. They have handled any leftover food and have done a good job at keeping the sand in good shape.
There are crabs that are harmless. As I mentioned before, the Scarlet hermits are nonevasive and porcelain crabs are probably my favorite.
Yes there are, like acro crabs, anemone crabs or any filter feeding ones. Some people have had no noticed problem with any of the myriad hermits and then there are many who have. Hermits are scavengers and opportunistic feeders, I have had most of them over the years and all have killed snails indiscriminately and quite often they aren't doing it for the shell. It is a hit or miss proposition with most crabs but they are not a requirement in the CUC, which is the point I was trying to make.
And my point is there are some that you dont have to worry. I understand yours but there are some that are completely harmless and you dont have to worry. about them eating snails, zoas or whatever.
So you dont have to avoid them completely.
