Clean up crew

[SoggyDollar]

I have a 90g bowfront, ~50lbs of live rock, live sand substrate, refugium, and I plan on doing fish and some soft corals. I like a more open tank so not a lot of live rock and I don't want a ton of snails all over the glass... What kind of clean up crew is recommended? Are dwarf ceriths necessary? What about Florida ceriths? Brittle stars w/ snails to turn the sand?

Here was a recommendation:

40 Dwarf Ceriths

15 Nassarius

18 Florida Ceriths

8 Large Nerites, 9 Small to Medium Nerites

On a side note, How do I achieve a good micro fauna population?

Thanks!

Edited September 22, 2011 by GoinfishN

[Aqua Girl]

I love my sand sifting snails. I call them zombie snails because at feeding time they rise up out of the sand. I dont know the scientific name for them but they dont really climb on my glass. My mexican turbo snail is also pretty awesome as far as cleaning goes. I need only one in my 30g.

[civais]

Where is a good place to get sand sifting snails?

[Woods]

Nassarius snails are one kind of snail that burrow under the sand and comes out at feeding time... Any of the LFS should have them or can order you in some. Also if you wait a little while, I am sure there will be another GroupBuy for ReefCleaners and they will have them as well as other Clean up crew options.

[jestep]

This was sort of discussed a few days ago: http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/19091-what-is-your-cleanup-crew/

Personally, not a fan of ceriths. They really don't do much, and you get a lot of die-off with them. If your rock and corals are somewhat secure, I wouldn't hesitate to use some turbos.

[SoggyDollar]

Thanks! I read that thread but I didn't really get a clear answer. I was hoping for some kind of formula or rule of thumb. I think I'm going to just get the 15 Nassarius, 8 Large Nerites, 9 Small to Medium Nerites. I may get some starfish as well. I'll see how that works for now. Thanks again!

[subsea]

I always start at the bottom of the food chain.

http://www.ipsf.com/

http://www.inlandaquatics.com/prod/prod_detrit.html

I will agree that brittle and serpent stars are opportunist and contribute more than most snails.

[Timfish]

I'm not a big fan of snails. In your size tank I would use one or two sand sifting cucumbers (never get the filter feeding cucumbers), up to 4 brittle stars, a few hermits and a couple of Sally Lightfoot crabs and a couple of Royal or Tuxedo urchins.

Regarding the second question you posed, there really isn't a rule of thumb or formula for any aspect of the marine hobby. We are dealing with literally thousands of different species and aquarium adapted varieties and there is no way any one approach will work for everything and it's surprising how often what works two or three times doesn't work the fourth time (what's that definition of crazy?). And when you add in marketing hype and lack of standards for manufacturers it can be overwhelming. I like forums like ARC for two reasons: One it shows individuals with diametrically opposing view points can both be successful (suggesting each is only half right ). Second it gives both the novice and experienced aquarist access to an experience base that's impossible for a single person acquire in a lifetime.

[subsea]

Tim, I like it like that. Thank you for so eliquintly putting that forth.

Patrick

[SoggyDollar]

Tim, that was very insightful. Thanks!

[Meteorflower]

I'd like to add a +1 for both Turbos and nassarius snails. I had terrible trouble with nuisance algae in my last tank, but I never had many turbos because I didn't like how they kept knocking over my unsecured frags. Now I've restarted my tank with a big batch of them, and they're doing a great job keeping the algae in check. They truly are workhorses, but you gotta secure your frags.

Aside from that, the nassarius snails are my favorites. They're fun to watch!

[+C Lo Slice]

From personal experience, I can say that ceriths will be attracted to the glass. I've had such considerable die off in the past 3 months that I'm considering bolstering the CUC up a bit, albeit with other types of snails. My nassarius have done a great job of keeping the glass clean and only a handful are needed.

[jamesdean3]

What i've done instead of snails is go all crabs. I got a bunch of hermits off an ARC member here a few months ago and have really enjoyed all the action and personality that hermits bring to the tank. I actually think that since they are eating any sort of left-over food in the tank it is consequently keeping alot of algae growth off my glass. It is true that the walk over my corals once and a while , but i have never had a problem with it as they are just strolling by looking for food. Also since i limit the amount of snails in the tank i really don't have any problems with them killing anything as there is less competition for food and i don;t see them killing each other oh and nassarius snails are good but they only stay in the sand and won't ever really get on the glass, and if you mix them with hermits they might get killed for thier shells.

[SoggyDollar]

Thanks for all the replies. So in conclusion, I guess the underlying message is the Better Off Dead approach. Use whatever you want, if something doesn't work, change it.