migs Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 Just curious as to people's thoughts on clean up crews. I hear everything from the standard snails/hermits to more exotic like the tuxedo urchin. From what I read, it looks like it depends on the type of algae you may have, but I am curious as to what people think is the best, generic (all-purpose) clean up crew. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barderer Posted February 25, 2008 Share Posted February 25, 2008 hmm, I would say the more diverse the better. I like to have multiple species of hermit crabs and multiple types of snails...but if I had to generalize brittle star for the "under reef" blue leg hermits scarlet hermits cleaner shrimp a star fish that likes the "top reef" a sea hare turbo snails glass rock work certh snails glass and rock work nassuris or however you spell it for the sand bed. bristle worms or other sand bed turning creatures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Bmwaaron Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 I would stick to basic clean up crews at first. Nasarius snails (my fav sand sifters) Nerite (my fav grazers.) Trochus snails (best all around snail if you ask me ) Blue or red leg Hermits Don't add starfish or shrimp until your tank is a little more established because they are way more sensitive to changes in water chemistry. And please don't add anything until your Ammonia, Nitrate, and Nitrite are all at 0 .. All the local fish stores will gladly test your water and I would recommend it even if you are testing your own just to get a conformation because depending on what brand of test kit you have they may be more tricky or less accurate then others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma13 Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 Diversity is definitely the best. I use some of basically all of the above. Here are my favorites and the strengths and weaknesses of some. Sand sifting: Sand Sifting starfish: Seems to work well, but has his favorite areas he works constantly and doesn't really get to other areas of the reef. Nassarius: Work great. Seems to diminish over time. Fighting Conch: Don't know how much they add. Golden Head Sleeper Goby: Best purchase I ever made. Keeps sand bed white and is a ton of fun to watch. One drawback he will get sand on anything low in the tank and can even bury small items on the sandbed. Rocks and Glass: Nerites: My favorite. Seem to eat algae well and do not knock thing over. Ceriths: Seems to do well both at sand sifting and rock/glass cleaning. However, they tend to be popular shells for the hermit crabs. Turbo snails: Nothing eats the algae better or bulldozes corals more. A catch-22. Tuxedo Urchin: Eats a lot of algae. Negative: May eat coraline algae too. Blue Linkia Starfish: Looks cool. Do not know what he eats, but has been grazing the rocks of my tank for 2 years now for something. Top Crown snails: Pretty red/white shells, eat great. Get knocked over and eaten by crabs easily. Hermits: Scarlets seem to be good, but expensive. Blue claws are cheap, but tend to be predators as they get larger. Emerald Crabs: Wonderful algae eaters. No drawbacks I have found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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