What do you use for cleanup crews.

[chasekwe]

What all do you guys use as your cleanups for an aggressive tank.

List your cleanup crew (or alternate method if you don't have one at all) and the fish they're dealing with.

I really want to get my options ironed out, I had planned on longspine urchins to play a large part until I read that eels eat those so umm... your experiences so I can come up with some ideas would be appreciated.


Thanks.

 

[davidcalgary29]

165g with following inhabitants:

1 x niger trigger (juv)
1 x sailfin tang (adult)
1 x scopas tang
1 x leopard wrasse (adult)
1 x clown wrasse (juv)
2 x yellowtail damsels
2 x false percs

1 juv. queen angel (in QT)

cleanup crew:

2 x peppermint shrimp
2 x cleaner shrimp
1 x Indo-Pacific Volute (species unknown); great for cleaning substrate

25 x zebra hermits
10 x blue-legged hermits
1 x large hermit
50 x needle snails
20 x turbo snails
20 x assorted (other) snails

1 x sand sifting star

1 diadema urchin
1 slate pencil urchin
1 other short-spined urchin

The urchins are great at cleaning the glass; I haven't had any problems with fish picking at cleanup crew or assorted softies and gorgonians in the tank, but expect trouble as the clown wrasse matures. The hermits are, by far, the biggest troublemakers in the tank.

 

[chasekwe]

Thanks that was helpful.

Does anybody have an examples of even more aggressive tanks? Triggers, puffers, groupers, eels, etc.

 

[JENnKerry]

I don't have an aggressive tank but I do have a fish only with a zebra dwarf lion. So really all my cleanup crew consists of:

55 gallon fish only
1- zebra dwarf lion
1- coral beauty
1- bi-color angel
1- blue cheek goby
1- heniochus butterfly

About 5 or 6 big mexican turbo snails
1- purple lobster
1- blue tuxedo urchin.

That's it. My tank stays very clean.

 

[capt. insano]

14" puffer
huge eyestripe tang
Clown trigger
Black Hawaiian trigger
Harlequin tusk

My cleanup crew is:

One huge red starry hermit
multiple orange and black legged hermits
4 golf ball size turbo snails
Lawn Mower Blenny

No problems! The above listed aggressive fish may take a swipe at the inverts, but can't get through their shells. Just make sure you choose large inverts and crabs. My puffer takes chunks out of LR but can't get through these inverts shells

 

[marrone]

I use to use large Red hermit crabs and my triggers and wrasses never touched them. I added a large Zebra ee and he decided they where on the menu and that was that. I have cholocate Chip star fish in the tank also and they're fine.

In my other tank my Harlequin tusk bit right through a large hermit crab shell and pulled it out.

 

[Pilot Fish]

Don't over feed and do your water changes.-YOU ARE THE CLEAN UP CREW--Clean up crews are gimicky and can get expensive once you have realized that the animals are poorly shipped and don't live long as a result.

 

[capt. insano]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6779236#post6779236 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pilot Fish
Don't over feed and do your water changes.-YOU ARE THE CLEAN UP CREW--Clean up crews are gimicky and can get expensive once you have realized that the animals are poorly shipped and don't live long as a result.

???

Of course we do water changes, but I also use some of these cleanup animals in conjunction with my cleaning regimine to keep algae down, detrius stirred up, and the sand bed turned over

some of my snails have been with me for years now

 

[Sparg93]

Great thread, i'm thinking of going predator and one fish i love is the HTusk...very curious to see what people keep.

 

[LRS078]

What do we use for cleanup crews....a pad and either my left or right arm.

The only other thing that works well with an aggressive tank is to get a bunch of snails in a 10 gal refuge or separate QT tank. You take one chunk of rock out of the aggressive tank at a time and let the cleaners clean it in the QT. Cycle out rock pieces as needed. The glass is just a matter of elbow grease....sorry.

Water changes weekly or bi weekly where you vacuum the substrate are invaluable as well...especially with messy/predator type fish.

Hope this helps...

 

[chasekwe]

How about conchs? Do you think their hide in the sand strategy would keep them reasonably safe from the big predators?

 

[capt. insano]

the thing I would worry about with conchs is that their foot and eye stalks stick out way beyond their shell, unlike most snails. If they weren't completely submerged in the sand, I think this would make them very vulnerable