Clean up crew

[danimal]

What is the general cycle for adding the clean up crew? My tank is doing nicely. the hairalgae is present, but not over running the place. I assist my hermits and snails with a mechanical snip and remove that lets them get closer to the root of the problem. Visually they are slowly winnig the war.

i read that the different snails/hermits/brittle stars shoud enerally be at a ratio to the gallons of tank and to each other. Q?

Are these ratios assuming you only have that snail or should the tank be populated with all algae eating snails at 2 to 1 ?

As the tank is starting up will the need for more snails go down or up as the tank matures?

I enjoy having the snails about, but do not want to over populate with them. The blue legged hermits have already stolen a few shells and seem to sense weakness on the Margarita snails - once one falls and a crab goes for him its like a free fo all until the victim is consumed.

dan

 

[ChrisRD]

IMO every tank is different and there is no real ratio or formula for how many snails you need. My suggestion is to keep a mix of species in there and just add a few as needed. Most of the recommendations for stocking levels of these animlas I have seen from vendors is unreasonably high (again IMO).

As for the hermits - I don't really like them and don't feel they are necessary, so I don't have any in my reef.

HTH

 

[Anonymous]

ive had that problem too with my hermits...if you can get larger snails...for the most part, the crabs just want the shell, however they benefit a free meal out of i too...ive been told 2 small turbo snails for every gallon, 1 large for every gallon...Im not sure how true this is and what is the basis for that recommendation, i have just read that...???

 

[danimal]

thanx for your comments on the hermits, but right now they do not have a whole lot to bother as only the clean up crew is in there.

i have to say the hermit gang seem to be doing alot of work on what I think is Bryopsis Munching away on the tufts and anything else they find! If they get to be troublesome can they just be relocated to the refugium?
The turbos have taken on a few of the tufts but for the most part they just plow through snacking and onto the next spot.


I have done some reading on the benefits of the nassarius, nerite and cerith snails and would like to put some in , but do not know how to be sure that the food supply is there or how many to start with. Any thoughts ?

Current Cleanup

Astrea snails - 50
Margarita snails - 18
Small turbos - 7
Mita snail - 1
blue leg hermits - 50 ( what did i do ! :? )
Scarlett hermits - 12
Pepermint shrimp 2 - got lucky they are eating up the aiptasia
brittle sea stars - 2
cuke - 1
yellow tang - 1

and the lone torch coral which is happily extended and seems to like his new home (180 AGA,200 LR,2 inch live sand bed). I think I am ready to get him some tank mates

 

[ChrisRD]

IMO you've got plenty of snails/crabs in there already. I would give it some time and see how things progress before adding any more. You can always add some new species as needed in the future.

 

[danimal]

thanx for your help today. Just finished taking the last 90 degree bend out of the piping ! gee what will i do without plumbing to work on.......oh go back to the weekday job to pay for all this stuff.

Chris - can you recommend any LFS?

 

[danimal]

whoops double clicked sorry about that . Time to get some sleep.

 

[Anonymous]

I only have three large Turbos...1 Fighting Conch....1 Emerald Crab.. a half dozen hermits..and a Thorny Star in my 100 gallon. They do a good job but I am thinking of getting a Sandsifting Star.

 

[ChrisRD]

Chris - can you recommend any LFS?

For me, the only place locally that I would consider a real reef operation is Tridacna Reef Farms - I recommend checking it out when you get a chance. Adam is a great guy.

As far as full-blown stores go, there's nothing in the immediate area that I would really call a reef shop/LFS. If you're up for a little driving there are some options...

Check out the local club forums and ask around there - you should be able to get some feedback. Also, you could get involved in some of their frag swaps:

Capital Reefs Aquarists Society

Hudson Valley Reef Keepers

HTH

 

[Saltykirk]

I would add more sand, 2 inches isn't deep enough IMO. If you had 4-6" you might notice better results against the hair algae. When the algae runs out, don't forget to feed the critters! I don't like sand sifting stars, they eat what you want to live in the sand. Cukes are the true rock stars of the sand world.

 

[Anonymous]

why would 1 more inch of sand make a diff??? Id like to get a sand sifting star however they are hard to come by here....It sounds like danimal, like you have a pretty large clean up crew...Thats good to here that the Peppermints are eating aiptasia, ive wondered how effective they really are..

 

[Anonymous]

why would 1 more inch of sand make a diff??? Id like to get a sand sifting star however they are hard to come by here....It sounds like danimal, like you have a pretty large clean up crew...Thats good to here that the Peppermints are eating aiptasia, ive wondered how effective they really are..

 

[danimal]

I may have overdid the cleanup crew, but the rock cycled so quickly and the algae just took off! After a panick moment I had to do a quick mail order and went a little on the high side i guess. (I was leaving for a week trip on business and was afraid what I might come home to)

There still seems to be plenty for everyone to eat. i agree about the cuke they are really hard workers. the sand stars I saw seem to pretty much just hang in one spot rather than work the sand. the mita snail never seems to come out , but if you know the sand contour well enough you can follow the his bump and he really turns the bed over.

My sand bed goes between two and three inches. What does the extra inch do for my tank? I know go pick up a book........

Time for some night time tank looking. Got to find out who the night time warrior is that is yanking the scarlet hermits out of their shells. I did find one decent sized worm (pencid thick), but have no clue yet what it is.

 

[Anonymous]

saltykirk[Saltykirk wrote]I would add more sand, 2 inches isn't deep enough IMO. If you had 4-6" you might notice better results against the hair algae. When the algae runs out, don't forget to feed the critters! I don't like sand sifting stars, they eat what you want to live in the sand. Cukes are the true rock stars of the sand world.
_________________[/quote]

1 more inch ???

 

[Saltykirk]

I never suggested 1 more inch, I suggested 2-4 inches, hence 4-6". Deeper sand has yielded better results for me,(& lots of other people). Just my PO after reading of other people doing it.

 

[danimal]

Does anybody know of any good articles or links that discuss sand depth?

Deeper is better certainly has a nice ring to it.

 

[Anonymous]

ok i have a 2.5 inch sandbed and if i added another 1-1.5 i might have some better results...Im not trying to call you out salty... I read in one of my books, that a 1-3 is just as adequate as a DSB..

 

[ChrisRD]

While I agree that a DSB can aid in denitrification, I think it's a bit premature to recommend any changes to this setup. With the amount of live rock in this tank, there should be plenty of denitrification going-on IMO.

At this early stage, a hair algae bloom is normal. Having a DSB won't stop this normal part of the tank cycle IME. Over the course of the next year you're going to see several types of algae come and go.

I'd recommend you change nothing - just give the system some time to settle down. Make sure you're using quality water for top-off and water changes (like RO, RO/DI, etc.), use a good skimmer and keep up with your husbandry.

If you find you're having trouble controlling nitrates in the future, you can always add some more sand to form a DSB in the main tank, or you can plumb a fuge w/macro algaes into the system and/or put a DSB in there as well (the fuge would have other benefits too - highly recommended).

For now, it will speed things up to have some animals that are eating the algae, but don't go overboard with that, as the added bioload can sorta defeat the purpose of having them in there - especially if they run out of food and start starving to death. IME large snails, conchs and hermits are better at eating hair and macro algaes than small snails.

My $0.02 FWIW...

HTH

 

[ChrisRD]

Does anybody know of any good articles or links that discuss sand depth?

Ron Shimek's site has lots of information on sand beds. http://www.rshimek.com/reef/sediment.htm

Deeper is better certainly has a nice ring to it.

Since this is a "G"-rated BB I guess I'll have to leave this one alone...