What are the best invertebrates and corals

[Kitkatryno$6]

So what's the best starfish for cleaning?
What are the best crabs for algae?
What's your favorite clam?
What's your favoritesoft coral?
Zoanthids yes or no?
Can you have clams with crabs and snails?

 

[OrionN]

There isn’t a “best” animal from each group or else that is all we keep. The beauty is in the diversity of the animals of the tank/ecosystem.
Diversity’s what I am aiming for. I don’t have “best” animal in any category.

 

[OrionN]

I keep animals in a reef tank if they come in with the life rock and live sand and does not hurt anything or grow too fast to overgrown other animals. I will try to obtain these animals from other tanks to diversify my fauna.
Other invertebrates and fishes I keep because I like the look or for a specific function. I like to diversify the animal when possible. For example if I need about 20 snails for my tank, I will get a population of Stomatella and other small snails (there are a numbers of small snails the reproduce in out tanks) to reproduced in my tank then add 4 snails of 5 different species rather than 20 of the same species or 10 each of two species. Even larger snails, “Mexican turbo” reproduce well in our tank.

 

[Kitkatryno$6]

There isn’t a “best” animal from each group or else that is all we keep. The beauty is in the diversity of the animals of the tank/ecosystem.
Diversity’s what I am aiming for. I don’t have “best” animal in any category.

I worded my question wrong. i meant more like favorite

 

[Kitkatryno$6]

I keep animals in a reef tank if they come in with the life rock and live sand and does not hurt anything or grow too fast to overgrown other animals. I will try to obtain these animals from other tanks to diversify my fauna.
Other invertebrates and fishes I keep because I like the look or for a specific function. I like to diversify the animal when possible. For example if I need about 20 snails for my tank, I will get a population of Stomatella and other small snails (there are a numbers of small snails the reproduce in out tanks) to reproduced in my tank then add 4 snails of 5 different species rather than 20 of the same species or 10 each of two species. Even larger snails, “Mexican turbo” reproduce well in our tank.I

I got into saltwater for the beauty. I didnt meant to word my questions wrong. That makes sense with the snails

 

[Reefing102]

So what's the best starfish for cleaning? I’ve only had brittle stars with minimal issue (just most people recommend staying away from the green ones as they can be fish eaters).
What are the best crabs for algae? I’ve always stuck with Blue Leg Hermits and Scarlet Reef Hermits
What's your favorite clam? Always been fond of Crocea, but can never keep any clams long term.
What's your favoritesoft coral? I’ve always liked the Fiji Yellow Leather
Zoanthids yes or no? I like the wild Fiji zoas I bought but they don’t have trade names. Zoas usually melted on me previously.
Can you have clams with crabs and snails? Yes but some can be predatory (not sure off the top of my head except for pyramids)

 

[Kitkatryno$6]

So what's the best starfish for cleaning? I’ve only had brittle stars with minimal issue (just most people recommend staying away from the green ones as they can be fish eaters).
What are the best crabs for algae? I’ve always stuck with Blue Leg Hermits and Scarlet Reef Hermits
What's your favorite clam? Always been fond of Crocea, but can never keep any clams long term.
What's your favoritesoft coral? I’ve always liked the Fiji Yellow Leather
Zoanthids yes or no? I like the wild Fiji zoas I bought but they don’t have trade names. Zoas usually melted on me previously.
Can you have clams with crabs and snails? Yes but some can be predatory (not sure off the top of my head except for pyramids)

i have read that about brittle stars. I have not had hermit crabs and I've read so many different things Idk what to believe. I havent gotten a leather yet but I like the way they look. I did not know zoas can melt at least i haven't read that. I havent had mine long enough.

 

[Reefing102]

i have read that about brittle stars. I have not had hermit crabs and I've read so many different things Idk what to believe. I havent gotten a leather yet but I like the way they look. I did not know zoas can melt at least i haven't read that. I havent had mine long enough.

Hermits are 50/50. I’ve had the best luck with blue legs and scarlets, though they will still kill snails for shells.

So “melting” is basically just a term for slowly dieing. Essentially they close up and almost give the appearance as “melting” as they slowly die. Not my pic but as an example of what I used to see in my tank

Then they would just no longer open, wither away and disappear.

 

[OrionN]

I don’t keep crabs in my tank other than Porcelain crabs. The pinks ones live in anemones. There are green ones that are free living. They do well in reef tanks. I don’t keep shrimps other than cleaner shrimp pair in my tank.
For other crabs, if you look at the pinchers. If these are spoon shaped pinchers, they are herbivores and is fine. If the pinchers are sharp points, then I would remove them from my reef. There are comensal crabs that line on Acropora. These are fine.
Star fish are nice. I often have black serpent stars that are scavenger in the reef. I also keep “Linkia” stars in the reef. These tend to feed on detritus and will do well.
I love Maximac Crocea, Noae and Squamosa. Needs bright lights.
Coral wise, make sure you check for invasiveness of a coral before put them in your tank. Zoa (zoanthids) can be really colorful and easy to keep nice corals in reef tank.

 

[Kitkatryno$6]

Hermits are 50/50. I’ve had the best luck with blue legs and scarlets, though they will still kill snails for shells.

So “melting” is basically just a term for slowly dieing. Essentially they close up and almost give the appearance as “melting” as they slowly die. Not my pic but as an example of what I used to see in my tank
View attachment 32402650

Then they would just no longer open, wither away and disappear.

Good to know what to look for in clams, if I get one.

 

[Kitkatryno$6]

I don’t keep crabs in my tank other than Porcelain crabs. The pinks ones live in anemones. There are green ones that are free living. They do well in reef tanks. I don’t keep shrimps other than cleaner shrimp pair in my tank.
For other crabs, if you look at the pinchers. If these are spoon shaped pinchers, they are herbivores and is fine. If the pinchers are sharp points, then I would remove them from my reef. There are comensal crabs that line on Acropora. These are fine.
Star fish are nice. I often have black serpent stars that are scavenger in the reef. I also keep “Linkia” stars in the reef. These tend to feed on detritus and will do well.
I love Maximac Crocea, Noae and Squamosa. Needs bright lights.
Coral wise, make sure you check for invasiveness of a coral before put them in your tank. Zoa (zoanthids) can be really colorful and easy to keep nice corals in reef tank.

I'm on the fence about crabs. I love the cleaner shrimp. I'm not sure if I like my camel shrimp. I think they ate my macro algae and I think they've been eating my acan along with the hitchhiker crab. I've been looking at the linkia stars. Ive had a striped brittle before, in my first tank we also had a chocolate chip starfish. The crocea are beautiful. My hubby bought the light to make sure it would be bright enough for everything. It has blue and white ligths. We use a canister filter and we have a skimmer.