Well rounded cleaning crew for 72g?

[MJAnderson]

I have a 72g. This is what I was thinking was my initial goal then see how they do and add more/different in response to tank condition. All from LFS (they have been good to me for questions, so I feel obliged):

Rock/glass:
12 Trochus
6 Somatella

DSB:
12 Tongan Nassarius (the bigger guys)
6 Cerith - the larger Carribean ones. Are those best?
6 Nerite - are the pacific or carribean ones better?

Other:
2 Emerald Crabs
1 Porcelian Crab (mostly because the seem cool)

Do I have all of my clean-up crew bases covered? I'd like to skip the Mexican Turbos since they seem messy...

I'm hesitant to get 6 dwarf red hermits as well. I want the diversity and might be willing to live with the occasional snail loss.

Thoughts?

 

[yeldarbj]

Sounds like a good start. I've got a 65 gallon with about 60 snails (astraea, nerite, cerith, nassarius), 2 emerald crabs, 2 porcelain crabs, 6 scarlet hermits, and a serpent star. My sand bed still gets a lot of debris. I was warned to stay away from the blue hermits, although some people swear by them. I've had no trouble from the scarlets.

The astraeas do a great job on the rock. The nassarius are most fun to watch (during feeding). Get several porcelains because they are cool. I want to add a couple more.

 

[azrien]

My hermits, all blues, never tried to make a pass at a snail except recently, during a period where I had not introduced food in a long time. I saw them trying to get at the snails so I shooed them away and promptly fed the tank. They've been happy since.

I don't overfeed at all, but I do have to feed at least once every week or two or else they'll find their own lunches! Also, I have three of the blue hermits for a 15g; I'm not sure but you might want to get more for a 72g.

 

[MJAnderson]

Thanks. The hermits seem a point of contention. I've read people saying the blues kill for sport and the reds are safe and people say they have never seen a blue kill and it's always a red.

 

[azrien]

I'm sorry, I have to correct my previous post. My hermits have blue on them, but after looking at them closely and comparing photos they don't have as much as a true blue hermit; I don't want to misinform saying they are blues when they really might not be. Whatever they may be, maybe zebras, they only tried to kill other inverts when hungry. I just have to feed weekly a healthy amount, besides the clown's NLS pellets, and everyone is happy. I will see the crabs on the snail shells, but I can tell when they're attacking versus cleaning. I fed today and I saw that a hermit was on a snail later on but only to clean its shell, not attack the snail. Upon further inspection, I think mine may be zebras but they definitely have a bit of blue on them. So yes, if hungry, they'll try to alleviate their hunger by any means necessary.