Type and How many cleaners?

[Richison]

Based on what I've read, I'm leaning towards getting these two types of cleaners:

The Red Legged Hermit (Clibanarius digueti)
&
Maybe a mix of Astraea sp Snails and Turbo Snails

Any issues with any of these? I want to be able to have soft corals and fish. Maybe Hard corals at some point.

How many should I get for a 100 gal tank? The tank is about 4 months old and has completed it's cycle. I don't want to limit the number of fish I can have because I put to many janitors in.

 

[ricky1414]

i have had good luck with astrea snails and blue legged hermits. i have heard that turbo snails can get too large and end up knocking over corals and such.
i cant say how many to put in a 100 gal, but i have about 8 hermits and approx 5 snails in my 20 gal, and they are doing a good job, and not staving themselves out.
i have seen in prople's posts that narsissus snails can do the job of both crabs and snails, eating algae as well as detrius, and they dont grow too large. I don't know if i have really even answered your question, though..

 

[Richison]

I've heard that the Blue Legs will sometimes kill the snails and take their shells. Have you had any problems with that?

 

[smlacy]

I've seen that happen, and my recent experience with the red legs is that they really don't do that much. They seem to just sit around all day, sometimes doing some sort of "king of the hill" type thing. Are they primarily nocturnal?

Astreas and Turbos on the other hand seem to be active nearly all the time, and do a great job of getting rid of algae.

Steve

 

[Richison]

This is what I found on one site about the crabs and snails:

Crabs:
The Blue Legged Hermit (Clibanarius tricolor), as well as other similar species are quite popular, but some such as the Anomura sp. will kill Astraea snails to obtain their shells.

The Red Legged Hermit (Clibanarius digueti) is said by some to be a much better algae eater than the Blue Legged Hermit, less aggressive, and has been reported to eat red slime algae.

The Scarlet Hermit Crab (Paguristes cadenanti) is one of the most popular hermits with reef keepers, because of its colorful appearance, and because it will eat all kinds of algae, such as red, green and brown slimes, as well as green hair algae.

Snails:
According to Julian Sprung's Reef Aquarium Manual, Volume One, Astraea sp. are the ideal snail to be placed in your aquarium as soon as ammonia and nitrite levels reach acceptable levels (less than 1 ppm). Introduced as soon as possible to a new aquarium, that has reached this cycling phase, these snails effectively limit the development of all microalgae. In other words, they are good at eating diatoms, but will consume red slime and green algae as well. The Astraea tecta found in Florida and Caribbean waters inhabits rocky inter tidal regions and is are said to be quite adept at removing alga films from rock surfaces.

There are numerous species of Turbans, referred to as Turbo snails, and Trochus snails world wide that feed solely on algae, making them perfect candidates for algae control. These types of snails are less adept at dealing with irregular surfaces, so they usually divide their time between cleaning the glass and digging in the sand for detritus.

Just additional info for discussion.

 

[ChrisRD]

I prefer to avoid hermits and just use a mix of various snail species. Some hermit species seem to be better than others, but IME they're not necessary and more annoying than helpful.

IMO, how many you'll need really depends on the species of snails/crabs you're putting in and your particular tank. I start with a low number and add more as needed to find a balance. Personally, I ignore the recommended stocking levels suggested by some vendors (for example, 1 snail per gallon). IME that results in far too many animals, and ultimately a lot of dead snails once there's not enough food to go around.

HTH

 

[Lostmind]

I have a 124gallon with a 75 gallon sump (the sump only has 45 gallons in it at any time tho) - so our setup is close in size.

I put in 15 nassarious snails
20 cerith
12 astrea
4 margaritas
4 turbos
10 zebra hermits
6 blue leg's (my friend gave them to me)

I believe I would like a few more astrea and cerith snails. Maybe 12 more each. But I have a lot of rock in my tank - 140# or so.

I wouldnt recommend the margarita snails - they keep dieing for no reason - well, 2 of them died by falling on their back and not being able to flip themselves right side up. And of course, they fell in the one spot I cant reach....

Turbos are too big I think...

I would suggest you buy cerith and astrea mostly. I bought the nassarious because I like how they dive in and out of the sand bed and they clean up the food my 3 chromis miss.