motti July 15, 2014 July 15, 2014 Hi All, I think it's time to put cleanup crew in my 265 display tank... just starting to see a little diatom algae growing on the gravel in some spots... the tank has been running for over 4 months now. and I've already got clean up crew in my refugium (got the 55 gallon pack from reefcleaners.com). also got few snails in my frag tank. I am looking for creative ideas for interesting clean up crew. I don't want to have a tank with 300 snails... and the cleanup packages they offer on many of the sites seems overkill in my opinion. so you guys with the large tanks, I would love to know what you have / recommend... Thanks!!!
DuffyGeos July 15, 2014 July 15, 2014 Hi All, I think it's time to put cleanup crew in my 265 display tank... just starting to see a little diatom algae growing on the gravel in some spots... the tank has been running for over 4 months now. and I've already got clean up crew in my refugium (got the 55 gallon pack from reefcleaners.com). also got few snails in my frag tank. I am looking for creative ideas for interesting clean up crew. I don't want to have a tank with 300 snails... and the cleanup packages they offer on many of the sites seems overkill in my opinion. so you guys with the large tanks, I would love to know what you have / recommend... Thanks!!! Me too!!!
YHSublime July 15, 2014 July 15, 2014 I got a mix of as many different types of snails as possible, hermits, two urchins, and a 2 starfish. I try to add snails every meeting, as I have a hovens wrasse that I think snipes them off. Just what I do for my 150.
Wrench July 15, 2014 July 15, 2014 Cannot live without a prickly sea cucumber. The key (IMO) if you have a sandbed. I also like trochus snails a lot. They're more $$, but live forever and work hard. The bulk of my CUC is astrea snails. I have a bunch of hermits of different types which I have to replenish a couple times a year. Not sure how much they contribute to the effort but I like having them.
Crob5965 July 15, 2014 July 15, 2014 I have blue and red hermits with a mixture of snails Nassarius snails margarita and a couple of others, urchins are cool but I got tired of them knocking coral off my rocks and leaving white lines as they eat the coraline off my rocks. I have 4 or 5 white hermits which are probably the most interesting to look at, they haul A$$ across my tank in seconds, although I have caught them stealing food from my coral and even my Carpet nem
zygote2k July 16, 2014 July 16, 2014 If your tank is just now finished cycling after 4 months, why slaughter all the good growth with a voracious CUC? Introduce a few snails and see how much they will eat in a few days. You want all the stuff to keep growing but have it grow at a rate that's just as quickly consumed by the CUC. When the CUC starves, it eats things it's not supposed to and sometimes each other. Time to start adding critters to the sand bed- maybe a trip to the Bay to get some critters from the mud and amphipods. Diversity is the key to having a successful reef tank.
wangspeed July 16, 2014 July 16, 2014 Trochus > all other snails Ceriths and Nassarius are better for the sandbed though.
John Ford July 16, 2014 July 16, 2014 Trochus > all other snails Ceriths and Nassarius are better for the sandbed though. ^ +1 I also think just adding a few at a time and taking it slow is a better method. You can get great bulk deals from reefbreeders and other sites but the cyano bloom from them all dying due to lack of food sucks
motti July 17, 2014 Author July 17, 2014 Cannot live without a prickly sea cucumber. The key (IMO) if you have a sandbed. I also like trochus snails a lot. They're more $$, but live forever and work hard. The bulk of my CUC is astrea snails. I have a bunch of hermits of different types which I have to replenish a couple times a year. Not sure how much they contribute to the effort but I like having them. What kind of sea cucumber is that? How big they get? What they feed on?
motti July 17, 2014 Author July 17, 2014 If your tank is just now finished cycling after 4 months, why slaughter all the good growth with a voracious CUC? Introduce a few snails and see how much they will eat in a few days. You want all the stuff to keep growing but have it grow at a rate that's just as quickly consumed by the CUC. When the CUC starves, it eats things it's not supposed to and sometimes each other. Time to start adding critters to the sand bed- maybe a trip to the Bay to get some critters from the mud and amphipods. Diversity is the key to having a successful reef tank. Any specific location where it good to collect those?
motti July 17, 2014 Author July 17, 2014 Thanks all for the tips, going to take it slow, might order a small cuc package for a 30 gallon or so to sea how things move on. I've seeded the sand bed from my refuigium few times, but pods population still small comparing to the fuge...
Mattiejay6 July 18, 2014 July 18, 2014 Here is a great blog on clean up crews http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/unique-corals/164192-revisiting-concept-cleanup-crew.html
sen5241b July 18, 2014 July 18, 2014 Large turbos will eat algae that small ones cannot. Large as in at least 1.5 inches in diameter. I have one like this in my 20G and he does fine. I tried 2 and one of them starved.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now