cleaning crew ?

so my choice is
5 cerith,3 turbo,10 hermits,2 nasiarus
and maybe not sure yet
1 banded sea surpant star
1 florida fighting conch
2 sext shrimp

sound good ?
 
Personally, I wouldn't get a conch. I tried one and it didn't last long.

Keep in mind that the Fighting Conch has a voracious appetite; as such, supplemental feeding is required in smaller systems and recommended in even the largest aquarium setups.
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I didn't have enough food in my sand for it so it starved, even with seaweed and other food available. I think they are like the sandsifting stars, just not as bad. They need a lot of sand area and will clean the life out of the sand fairly quickly.

Sexy shimp is just for looks, they really won't do much for cleaning, and I have my doubts they will survive long in a big tank like yours. At first, without predators, ya, they will probably be fine, but once you add fish all bets are off. I am thinking of a pair myself for my 10G frag tank just because I love the looks of Woodrights sexy shrimp.

Cleaners you listed and star is fine.. and the sexys will be for a while. Your call on the conch, but I would wait a little bit until you really started to have diatom outbreaks going in your sand. Right now, the clean up crew you listed will take care of the small amount you may have now.
 
i thought all starts were bad?....
dont they devoure all life from the sand bed then die?
if not...wich ones are safe?
 
Serpent/Brittle stars are safe, except for the green brittle star, it grows too big. Velvet/Linkia stars are very expert stars and usually die under mosts aquariest care.

Sandsifting stars are not safe as they need a huge area of sand to survive and will eat your sandbed clean. Chocolate chip stars are not reef safe, but ok in FOWLR. They do get big though so they require a big tank.
 
Really Ace? Mine eats up a storm and is one of my favorite things in the tank. I've heard lots of success stories. Maybe your tank was just too new at the time?

Blossom, I think that is a good list but no need to get it all at once. Just get something for the issues you encounter and slowly build the crew up.
 
I have tried 2 in the last year. Neither one made it past a month. There could be any number of reasons they didn't make it.. not sure what caused them to die. Then again, I tried a horseshoe crab before that... made it about 4 months. I don't have enough sand area for the bigger types of sand cleaners in my tank.

For her tank though, a conch would probably be ok, later on. There probably isn't enough food in there yet, especially if she adds the other cleaners. In a few months I bet it would do good.
 
Grins said:
I don't consider sexy shrimp of porcelain crab clean up crew at all. The porcelain is a filter feeder so unless it is a small particle in the water column it isn't going to be eating it. Not sure if you have seen how small that sexy shrimp are either but do know that there is a good chance you'll not see them very much in a 90g. Same is true for a porcelain.

I'd also avoid the blue linkia I risked one and it injured itself and never recovered and I regret ever putting such a beautiful creature in a tank that I may not have even had the right food source for. There are many sources that will tell you that they have no idea what the eat. Pretty darn difficult to make sure you can keep it healthy with that considered.

Some of the worms could be tube worms and could be alive.

For diatoms in a 90g I'd suggest ceriths and turbos. I'd get some nassiarus after a bit longer but not to eat what you see on top, but rather to eat what you don't see in the sand. I have a florida fighting conch as well, they are great for the sandbed and with a 90g you may really enjoy one as well.

I do agree with what others have said about not trying to stock all your clean up crew at once as well.
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i do not know anything about the conch but i pretty much agree with gins on everything else here. i also love sexy shrimp but i've always felt a trio would be better suited for a smaller reef, jmo tho. the blue linkia is so awesome but very difficult to keep alive, i just got a orange that is known to be much hardier. a good mix of snails is best for a CUC. but like the others said, you need to get it slowly. i also like to have hermit crabs for the rock, just have extra shells in the tank for them so they are less likely to dine on the snails.
 
Well true, with your size sandbed and everything else you have in there maybe it wasn't getting enough food. Mine, "Lelia" has been in the tank since last April and has probably doubled in size since. I did make sure there was food in there for her before adding her and have even seen her on the halmedia eating pods. She is fun to watch, can do a back flip, moves faster than you'd think and can kick some hermit crab bootie. :lipssealedsmilie:
 
I have to make a comment about Sexy Shrimp. I know there not much for cleaning but they are the best thing to watch in the tank so far. We don't have fish in there yet so I have no idea if they might get eaten or not. They are always out in the open on the rocks. They have even hosted with our Coco worm. I have to say that they have not made it to the other pile of rocks on the other end of the tank but I'm sure some day they will get there.
 
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