additions to clean up crew, 40 gallon tank

[DLeung10]

Hi:

How many Mexican turbo snails are suggested for a 40 gallon tank ?

How many red-legged bermit crabs ?




Tank is a fish only setup with dead rock, no skimmer, only 30 watts of
light from a Power-Glo tube.

 

[gbolton]

Some reccomend atleast 1 of each per gallon. Personally I have a 110 gallon and seem to be doing well with approx 20-30 snails and about 20 hermits. I would reccomend getting a few of each and increasing over a period of time.

On a side note I did not keep hermits in the tank for the past 6 months just snails as an experiment and I would not reccomend this its amazing how much more algea and junk these hermits remove from your live rock I just reintroduced them to the system this weekend and I can tell a difference.

 

[becky_e]

Hi:

How many Mexican turbo snails are suggested for a 40 gallon tank ?

How many red-legged bermit crabs ?

I have a 45 gal tank and I think I can help you out. The Mexican Turbo snail does a great job cleaning the tank, but I only have one, it's larger than a golf ball. I may be able to get enough algae in the tank to have 2, but 1 is fine. He's not my only snail, though. I also have at least 15 Cerith snails and 10 nassarius snails. The Cerith snails clean the parts the Turbo snail can't get to. I say at least 15 because they have been breeding like mad and I've been finding babies recently. The nassarius snails seem to eat left over food more than algae. Astria snails are another good snail, but I don't have any in my tank.

I have 10 scarlet reef hermit crabs, and they are doing a great job, constantly eating. 1 each (snail or hermit crab) per 1-2 gallons is what's recommended, but if you want Turbo snails, count each Turbo snail as the equivalent of 5 of the smaller snails!

P.S. I have a lot of light in my tank. It grows a lot of algae, so consider your lighting when you buy your snails and hermits.