Cleanup crew for BC14

[motti]

Hi Everybody

 

I just started a 14 Gallon biocube about a month and a half ago. at the moment i do not have any cleanup crew, and i am trying to figure out what would be the best combination/quantity for a tank my size.

 

a bit about the tank,

it's 14 gallon bc.

i got rapid led lightings, and the tank is mixed reef, sps, lps and some zoas and polys.

at the moment i got a little bit of algae, but i clean it out daily so it's not a huge problem.

i am doing 2 gallon wc once a week and top up the water with distilled water from safeway.

 

I was thinking about getting 3 emeralds.

Cerith Snail - Group of 10 Mexico

Red Leg Hermit Crab- Group of 10 - Mexico

Nassarius Snail - Group of 10

 

any comments or suggestion from people who own small tanks, i used to have 150 gallon tank, but i am not sure how should i design the clean up crew for my small tank.

 

Thanks

Motti

[gmubeach]

If you want fish I would suggest against the emeralds:) They tore my fish up in my old nano.

[motti]

Thanks for the advice, i used to have bunch of them in the large tank, only when fish came to close they actually "stood up" lol and waved their claws. might be a problem in a smaller tank.

 

so far i got straberry dottyback, yellow watchman gobby, and false percula. the yellow watchman kind of pissing me off, he's just sitting in his corner day and night....

[gmubeach]

I had one eat a mandrin and a occalroius saw him do it too! I baited him with a piece of fish and grabbed him with a net .... I've also had a hermit eat fish before too.. thats one of the problems with a nano.... the fish can't get away.... also you REALLY want to avoid grape culerpa!

[Mando77]

I have an office 14 gallon biocube and it took about a year for the tank to get to where I would consider it stable. It has no protein skimmer and I change the water out every few weeks. I think it took a long time for the bacteria to gain control of the algea. All in all I just clean the glass and monitor the tank to make sure its toped off with water. These tanks can't handle much. I have a small clean up crew. Maybe 8-10 snails total and 8-10 hermit crabs. I only have one fish in there, and you will have lots of problems if you try to add 3-4 fish. I would suggest keeping two max. About the only thing it can handle is some gobies or 1 nice type of fish. I couldn't even keep a clown in the tank. My advice is to keep it as simple as possible. Don't overdue the bioload and if you have nice corals do regular water changes.

[spankna]

I agree with the 10+/- snail numbers ONLY if you mix the species(ie. nassarius to clean sand/astraeas to help clean the glass/trochus to clean the rocks). Snails that can't roll off their back(Margaritas) are ammonia bombs if they die in a nano tank. IMO, trochus are the best snails.

 

My numbers for 15lbs or LR:

6 trochus snails

6 nassarius snails

6 hermits(scarlet and blue legged)

1 skunk cleaner shrimp

1 emerald crab(I love it but buy it small as it will eat fish)

 

Fish numbers are different between each setup. I have 5 fish as well and a rose anemone and they are doing amazing. I also have a co-worker for a 12gallon JBJ with 6 fish and an anemone in his. It can be done but it really depends on your tank setup.

[motti]

Thank you guys for all of your responses.

 

I already made the mistake of getting CBS since I used to have one for 5 years and I loved him so much

 

Anyone wants free CBS?