The great 100 gallon migration: I need a "cleanup crew

[Anonymous]

I've moved the cured live rock into my 100 gallon aquarium. I have managed to drag out the process since I think mid august. I finally got the rock about 3 or 4 weeks ago, cured it outside, and moved it in.

I moved my first coral yesterday, I big-arse mushroom leather coral (looks like this

which is now doing the "new water freakout."

I've propagated this thing several times in the last 7 years, so I know it can withstand anything and if the worst happens, I have several clones.

So my nominally 100 gallon really has about 85 gallons of water in it, ca. 100 lbs of rock, minimal sandbed (for aesthetics).

It will eventually house a pair of maroons and a blue and a purple tang. I've had all of these ca. 7+ years, and the motivation for the bigger tank is for these tangs.

It's time to go shopping.

First on the agenda is a cleanup crew.

I've been looking at various vendors. My how the prices have increased. It looks like $300 + shipping is going to be fairly standard.

What's the current skinny on hermits? I assume blue-legged are bad news. Is it worth getting scarlet ones? Other recommendations? Sea stars? Cucumbers? Other detritavores?

Suggested vendors (I live near SF, CA, so those who ship from LA or closer are preferred).

 

[trido]

$300+ for a cleaner crew sounds extremely high to me. I have about $120 into mine and its only that high because my darned hermits killed off about 1/4 of my snails. I have one fighting conch, 8 mexican turbos, 13 nassarious snails, and about 15 margarita snails. I had about 12 cerith snails but the crabs seemed to like them for dinner the best. The hermits are no longer in the tank and it is doing fine. The two tangs pick at algea too but to be honest there really is much for them to eat after the snails do their job. Unlees you really like to watch hermits I wouldnt recommend them. Alot of experience guys around here dont use them.

 

[trido]

double post

 

[Anonymous]

So wheredjagetit?

 

[trido]

My LFS. They charge $20 for a cleaner crew pack . Pretty much 10 of anything I choose that they have in stock.

 

[Anonymous]

That seam kind of high to me also. I'm not a big fan of hermits either. I have three in my tank and will not get any more once they are gone. Check out reeftopia.com. Most vendors reccomend alot more than you need.

 

[cindre2000]

I have about 10 hermits in my 30 right now. And since all my snails died (not due to the hermits), they don't really cut it; however, i like hermits. I have kept, about 15 snails with my hermits up until the tank crash and none of them died to the hermits. But I keep lots of shells in the tank.

I am a big fan of variety and of gradual stocking. Various turbo species are a must since they work so well; as long as the rock work is stable I like the large Mexicans since they cover some much area, however, the margeritas and Atlantics stay moderatly sized. Ceriths are supposably good since they can right themselves, but I rarely see them; however I still have them for diversity. The nassarius sp. are easily replaced by hermits, but they can be really useful at times. I also am a big fan of urchins since they are cool, however, I try and keep the number low to keep coraline algae growing (1 or 2 in a hundred).

I try and get my snails from a LFS except when they charge too much. Usually online I like e-bay or some online stores that sell them individually. For a 100, I might start with about 30 turbos and 10 scavengers, but that can easily go up depending on how well they clean the rocks.

In the 125 I set up, there are about 30 turbos (5 mexicans, the rest atlantic), 30ish hermits, 50 Mud welks, and one urchin; absolutly no algae problems (except coraline).

 

[cindre2000]

Oh yeah, hermits are indestructable.

 

[Anonymous]

ok first, the "standard size" cleanup crews were EXTREMELY over stocked when I started with my 135g tank, I don't know how they are now but I'm guessing still the case.

Second, are you doing a sandbed? Lots of fish? You'll want something that'll turn up the sand, either types of snails (tongan nassarius, fighting conch) or some sort of starfish (sand sifting star). Now if you plan on having algae issues on rocks I've found that snails normally don't handle that too well (although it's been a while since I've had astrea snails), but hermits on the other hand are usually great for picking stuff off.. unfortunately they will also pick off other snails and other hermits, so it's a trade off..

Personally I'd wait until you needed the clean up crew before you get one.

 

[Anonymous]

I've got 2 tangs so I am not worried about algae. I've got a minimal sand bed mainly for aesthetics. I've never been a proponent of hermits, but they do eat some of the leftovers.

I guess I have a pretty good idea of what to buy (I have several tanks), but am looking for suggestions of where to buy.

 

[Anonymous]

I like these guys:
http://www.ipsf.com/strombusfaqs.html
http://ipsf.com/#anchor47808
because they will reproduce to catch up with the amount of detritus and algae in the tank. IPSF used to sell Stomatella snails as well, not sure where they are now. Those are great for the same reasons.

After those and the other stuff abundant in live rock, like amphipods and bristleworms, I don't think there's a large need for detritivores/algae eaters. A sea cuke is unnecessary if you have a shallow bed, IMO. You may consider a Diadema urchin, simply because they look cool. They'll also keep nuisance algae in check and spread your coralline around.

 

[Anonymous]

I've never had more than 15 or 20 mexican turbo snails in my 300G tank.

I think clean up crews are over-rated. And they are animals and they add bioload to your tank. There a bit counter prodcutive in that manner.

I had crabs in my original 75 and hated them.

I do have a few brittle stars in my 300G also. They came from my 75 and are about 6 years old now.

Louey