Your Cleanup Crew, inverts, and You... FYI

[Hitch08]

What do i feed my CUC while QT'ed?

From what I've read, flake food and Mysis and nori ocassionally. Perhaps someone with actual firsthand knowledge will let us know if that's correct.

 

[tennesseebob]

From what I've read, flake food and Mysis and nori ocassionally. Perhaps someone with actual firsthand knowledge will let us know if that's correct.

KK, i have no flake, but im set on the other stuff...well i have sinking pellet food, so i suppose that may work when it softens up a bit.

 

[hotelbravo]

Bristleworms are good. Most kind of worms are good, and if you're lucky they came in your rock---just don't handle them without gloves, or their spines will make your fingers unhappy. .

I firmly agree that bristleworms are really valuable clean up crews they do a really good job and anytime im at my lfs I always pick up a few from their rocks. ive picked up as many as 37 worms in one day and place them in my tank. my LFS doesn't care for them in theirs tanks so they don't charge me to take them home. what I really want to say is that in all this time of me handling bristleworms I have never had a problem with them stinging me like everyone seems to worn. I never wear gloves and I will sometimes be holding them in my hand for many minutes before I can drop them in a bag I pinch them off the rocks with my fingers and everything. I feel like the warning about their spines is a little exaggerated.
then again you have WAAAAY more experience then me and I consider you to be an expert. I am speaking from experience only and I do not intend to offend or discredit you in any way, shape, or form.

 

[Sk8r]

Well, I've handled them for a couple of decades, and did so barehanded for a while, until my fingers began to swell up so hard they felt like rock, and would itch and hurt and stay swollen for days. I now use gloves religiously when moving rock or sand, though not when working with corals.

One thing about marine stings: most are just a nuisance, but I know two completely unrelated lfs owners who didn't wear gloves for many years and now can't even put their hands into a tank to work with corals without reacting, and that's livelihood-threatening. Sensitization takes time. But it may happen to individuals who don't otherwise have troubles with allergies.

 

[Sk8r]

Personally, I wouldn't put a cleaner shrimp in a tank smaller than a 100 gallon long---because I've seen cleaners create wounds on fish. They do absolutely nothing to prevent ich, btw.

 

[ReefNole]

What about specialty crabs / shrimp (pom-pom crabs, porcelain crabs, sexy shrimp, bumblebee shrimp, etc.)?

Where do they fit into tank size and timetable?

Thanks!

 

[Shawn O]

And I include the happy little pistols sold as pairs with gobies---my tiger grew large, prosperous, killed his goby partner, then took out several firefish and a mandarin before I took my tank apart to catch a stupid half-inch shrimp.

Wow, a 1/2" shrimp killed your fish? Must have looked like this:

I also would like your take on porcelain crabs, I find them very interesting creatures.

 

[Sk8r]

The decorator and pompom crabs and such are cute for very small tanks. Ditto the sexy shrimp and bumblebees and others---but feeding them is problematic. If you have a very 'gentle species' tank of mostly herbivores, they'll be safer, but finding enough to eat and surviving their roommates is the big issue for these relatively quiet little fellows.

 

[heathlindner25]

Well, I've handled them for a couple of decades, and did so barehanded for a while, until my fingers began to swell up so hard they felt like rock, and would itch and hurt and stay swollen for days. I now use gloves religiously when moving rock or sand, though not when working with corals.

One thing about marine stings: most are just a nuisance, but I know two completely unrelated lfs owners who didn't wear gloves for many years and now can't even put their hands into a tank to work with corals without reacting, and that's livelihood-threatening. Sensitization takes time. But it may happen to individuals who don't otherwise have troubles with allergies.

I have this issue,if I just brush up against any LPS I will have sores on my hands for
no less than 6 months...just keeps burning and stinging and slowly skin falling off.
I gave up my tank maintenance's because of it.

 

[BrendaddyK]

I have some very small hermit crabs with redish legs that are climbing all over a zoa colony I just bought. My polyps close up when they're on top of them and open up maybe 30 minutes after they're off. Are they eating them or just picking off stuff that might have been on the rock I bought them on? And how many do you recommend for nano tanks? (5 gallon tank)

 

[Amoo]

Worth mentioning since this is the newby forum. We have a thread in the Nem and Clown section that got off topic and we all got on a tangent telling campfire stories about what kinds and how many fish our emerald crabs killed. Not woke up and saw Emerald Crab eating, but legit kill totals. I love my emerald crab but he's cost me over $120 in livestock. I said I would never do it to him as he was a tank fav, but he's in the sump now