View Full Version : Cleanup Critters
K-Dubbs
10-12-2004, 10:11 PM
Well my tank cycling is coming along nicely, and was just wondering what sort of clean up critters everyone here at the forum has experience with or likes. Certain inverts, gobies, blennies, anything... just looking for some suggestions on easy to medium difficulty cleanup crew for my tank. I have also been keeping my eye on an very nice looking orange-spotted goby who has been sifting through the sand a lot at work, he seems healthy and active but of course with a little patience I can get pretty much any sort of fish, and watch it for a while to make sure its healthy... so give me your suggestions and personal experiences! :bowing:
thx
K-Dubbs
Cearbhaill
10-13-2004, 3:52 AM
If I had it to do over again I would just use a large variety of snails- astreas, nasarrius, cerites, turbos etc. My hermit crabs have done nothing but murder each other and fight, and the shrimps steal food from the corals. I have a Flame Hawk on my want list to eliminate them.
The sand sifters are cool- but they move sand around all the time so make sure your rock work is resting securely on the glass and not supported by sand.
i agree, blue legged hermits are a waste of money. they dont do anything in my tank. scarlets seem to be ok, and seem to leave everything else alone.
Aquarius0015
10-13-2004, 10:13 AM
I enjoy my blue leg hermits! A buck each and very entertaining. Then again, I *am* easily amused.
My scarlet cleaner shrimp is my new favorite though.
Sregnar35
10-13-2004, 12:35 PM
I recommend getting a large variety of cleaners. I have 5 or 6 kinds of hermits, 5 or 6 kinds of snails, 2 peppermint shrimp, an emerald crab, a sally lightfoot crab, a sand sifting star, and a sea cucumber. Next up is a lettuce nudibranch and a serpeant star. And sometime down the road I'll get a blood red fire shrimp, just can't see spending all the money right now.
how do you keep the hermits from eating the snails?
Sregnar35
10-13-2004, 1:36 PM
75 gallons for them to roam around I guess. I've never had any problems with any of my hermits or crabs.
I personally prefer a variety of snails. I like the mix of Astrea, Trochus, cerith, nerite, and nassarius* (for tanks with substrate). I'm not a fan of crabs, but I did put 3 Scarlets in my tank post cycle just to pick the rock a little bit - be sure you leave extra empty shells for them. I've noticed 2 of my hermits have already changed shells.
K-Dubbs
10-13-2004, 8:46 PM
How about "turbo" snails? are they a type of one of the snails listed above?
Any non-inverts that you guys find to be good cleanup crew?
K-Dubbs
ChicoRaton
10-14-2004, 1:50 AM
How about the little zebra reef crabs? they're hermits with black and white striped legs. I'm thinking of getting a few for my new nano I'm working on.
any opinions?
Cearbhaill
10-14-2004, 4:58 AM
How about "turbo" snails? are they a type of one of the snails listed above?
Here (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rs/index.htm) is a great article on the various species of Turbo snails.
As far as some of the others- I found my serpent stars to be far too aggressive feeders, and the sea cucumbers just grossed me out too much to keep. I am too afraid of rock slides for sand sifters, and the only crabs I keep are porcelains. I love my shrimps, but love my corals more- and standing there batting shrimp away while a coral is trying to feed just got too time consuming.
It all depends on what other species you are planning to keep. I have a lot of slow feeders like my Fungias, Trachyphyllia, BTA, Tubastreas etc and even with the soda bottle cage things the shrimp were just too relentless about the food.
How about the little zebra reef crabs? they're hermits with black and white striped legs. I'm thinking of getting a few for my new nano I'm working on.
any opinions?
i would go with some snails. hermits dont seem to do much cleaning. scarlets are nice and leave snails alone though
wastememphis
10-14-2004, 9:09 AM
Caz... you can't stop them from eating snails, hahaha. In my 65 gallon I'm setting up I'm going to have a variety of snails and a HUGE sand crew possibly 20 nassarius snails, and at least one sand sifting star. Alot of my crabs now are wearing my snail shells, that they killed. And I have crabs that climb the calking on the corners of the tank, so they are crazy... like navy seal crabs.
lol. i hear that. i have a grave yard of snail shells. i think move tanks or upgrade, im not going to include hermits. although they are cool and fun to watch, they dont do a very good cleanup job
Sregnar35
10-14-2004, 11:34 AM
I already have a sand sifting star, a fighting conch, and a sea cuke, what else can I get to clean up the algae on my sand bed?
what about a sandsifting goby? or a lettuce nudibranch?
Sregnar35
10-14-2004, 3:33 PM
I was thinking of the nudibranch, but will they go on the sand bed? And I'm not so sure a goby would get along too well with my royal gramma?
how big of a tank? ive never heard of royal grammas being agressive towards gobies, but i have heard of them being aggressive towards other basselets though.