rule of thumb for cuc?

[ryanTEXAS]

spoke to LFS and they said generally you would want 1 snail and 1 crab for every 5 gallons. so, i have a 55 gallon with 1 turbo snail and 5 hermit crabs. is this a good rule to follow given that the tank is mature enough with the proper amount of food to house this type of population?

i was going to buy from liveaquaria.com to save a couple of bucks because some of the snails i want are $1 cheaper and hermits are 70 cents cheaper then my LFS. anyone have a good experience purchasing inverts from this site? does the 14 day rule apply the inverts as well?

i was going to purchase 2 turbo, 3 super tongan nassarius, and 5 nassarius. that puts me at 11 snails total fulfilling the 1 snail per 5 gallon rule. as for crabs, i was going to get 2 dwarf zebra, 1 dwarf red tip, 1 fighting conch, 2 dwarf yellow tip. this puts me at 11 crabs total also.

if anyone sees a problem with this let me know. i dont think the type of hermit matters for the job i want them to do, its to add a variety of color more then anything. will the fighting conch be a problem? it says its peaceful unless another conch is in the same system. im worried that it will try to kill my hermits though since it is a crab in a shell and i dont think it will distinguish the difference. as for the snails any suggestions on wether i should mix it up more, margarita, cerith, astrea conehead, or nerite. let me know!

 

[Amphiprion]

LiveAquaria tends to have higher quality livestock. In any case, in the matter of CUCs, less is more. Why? Basically, you want to very slowly build up to a sustainable level. The temptation is to add a ton of animals at once to counteract an algae and/or detritus problem. The thing is, you shouldn't be using these animals for that purpose--they should be there as a semi-preventative only. They are only a bandage for potentially worse issues. Even more important still, it is unethical to buy large quantities of these animals (which are often offered online), since most tend to starve and some may not actually be truly tropical animals, thus dooming them to a short life (this includes many "margarita" snails, mexican Turbo snails, many nerites, etc.) I would stick to Astrea, Trochus, and cerithid snails for cleanup purposes.

For the record, there really is no "rule of thumb" with these things, since those rules of thumb often lead to unnecessary deaths. I would get about 10-12 of the above mentioned snails (a few Nassarius are fine, since they consume different resources). Skip the fighting conch, since they often don't have enough of the necessary algae and detritus, due to limitations in surface area. I would put a limit on hermits. While they can be useful, they can also be destructive (nipping at things and killing snails for shells). I honestly wouldn't add more than a half dozen. Let the snails be your CUC powerhouses. If after a couple of months, that number of snails hasn't done the trick, examine your water quality first and see if something can't be remedied there, as well as overall water motion and protein skimming. If that is in order, consider adding a small handful more (no more than 3-5 is my recommendation).

 

[ryanTEXAS]

thanks amph. i just noticed the expensive shipping fee. i guess its worth it because of the 14 day gaurantee since the first two weeks are the definitive days of wether they will survive long term or not.

yeah i was thinking about the hermits slaying my snails. i am worried about this as well.

i have 1 turbo snail in my tank, are you saying that he will not survive in there for much longer? i generally keep a temperature of 75F as best i could. my sg is at 1.026, a point above average but it has been this way since tank set up until now. i have only done 1 WC and i didnt get it right so its still at 1.026 (when i say i have done 1 WC this does not mean i neglect my tank) its fairly new and has just completed cycling.

 

[Amphiprion]

FWIW, 1.0264 @77F is the average value for natural seawater, so you are fine with what you have. If you have a mexican turbo snail, then there's no telling how long it may live. Depending upon the extent of more destructive factors (i.e. rapid salinity shock, usually at wholesalers, retailers, etc.), the amount could vary greatly. But then again, you are looking at animals that should be living for at least 5 years or so--some species live for decades, yet die very prematurely. Again, keep your hermit crab density low (~1 individual per 10 gallons or so) and keep an appropriate gauge on your snail population. Other snails I forgot to mention include limpets, chitons, and the ever popular (due to its breeding habits) Stomatella varia. Smaller, less known snails (but fascinating and helpful nonetheless) include columbellid, Collonista, and rissoid snails.