motti July 15, 2014 Share 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!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos July 15, 2014 Share 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!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime July 15, 2014 Share 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrench July 15, 2014 Share 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 $$, but live forever and work hard. The bulk of my CUC is astrea snails. I have a bunch of hermits of different types which I have to replenish a couple times a year. Not sure how much they contribute to the effort but I like having them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crob5965 July 15, 2014 Share July 15, 2014 I have blue and red hermits with a mixture of snails Nassarius snails margarita and a couple of others, urchins are cool but I got tired of them knocking coral off my rocks and leaving white lines as they eat the coraline off my rocks. I have 4 or 5 white hermits which are probably the most interesting to look at, they haul A$$ across my tank in seconds, although I have caught them stealing food from my coral and even my Carpet nem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k July 16, 2014 Share 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wangspeed July 16, 2014 Share July 16, 2014 Trochus > all other snails Ceriths and Nassarius are better for the sandbed though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ford July 16, 2014 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti July 17, 2014 Author Share 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti July 17, 2014 Author Share 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motti July 17, 2014 Author Share 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... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattiejay6 July 18, 2014 Share 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b July 18, 2014 Share 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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