Clean up crew reccomendations

[boomer 453]

I've removed the crushed coral substrate from my 75 gallon fowler tanks and swapped it for sand. Can someone give me some suggestions on a clean up crew? currently i have a dozen dwarf blue leg hermits and nothing else, I need not only detritus eaters but something with a serious appetite for green slime algae and capable of rolling over the top layer of sand.

 

[qwiksilver]

For your substrate I would try out sandsifting stars and/or sandsifting snails. For cleaning the rock get some more herms (try varying types as some types eat different types of algae, and each other, but meat is good for you!) and for snails you could get just your regular turbo or astrea, or you could get something different which loves diatoms... a chiton or two (and their plating is wicked, they look like water roley-poleys, especially when they tuck into a ball), or some cowries (not all eat meat), or some conchs. HTH

 

[christssoldiers]

Hi boomer,
Just out of curiosity how deep is your sand? I may be wrong about this but I believe sand sifting stars eat the creatures in the sand that you want not the algea. I have a bunch of cerith snails and am quite happy with them. I also have Nassarius vibex snails. which I like a lot as they burrow under the sand and have a small trunk that they use like a snorkel. I have a 5 inch deep sand bed though so I don't know how well they would do in a tank with shallow sand, they might be fine but the cerith are great.

 

[sokol1312]

for sure nassarius, cerith and nerite snails,

 

[boomer 453]

My sandbed is currently about 3" in the back of the tank sloping to about 1 1/2" in the front. so far their are 12 dwarf blue legs and 12 nassarius.

 

[Anonymous]

Make sure you research, some say cowries aren't reef safe. I'd cut back on the hermits, they do after all like snail meat. Get a good variety of snails. ie' Nerite, Cerith, Conch's both queen and fighting, Narrarius, Astreae. Turbo or what the LFS call Mexican Turbos altho a great algea eater, is really a cold water snail, as are Margarita snails and don't last long in our tanks.

Get a clean up crew from Inland Aquatics if you can't find things locally.

 

[qwiksilver]

Yeah, tiger cowries aren't reef safe, but money cowries are.

 

[christssoldiers]

Make sure you research, some say cowries aren't reef safe. I'd cut back on the hermits, they do after all like snail meat. Get a good variety of snails. ie' Nerite, Cerith, Conch's both queen and fighting, Narrarius, Astreae. Turbo or what the LFS call Mexican Turbos altho a great algea eater, is really a cold water snail, as are Margarita snails and don't last long in our tanks.

Get a clean up crew from Inland Aquatics if you can't find things locally.

I have over 100 blue leg hermits and have never seen one eat a snail. I'm not saying they never will but my haven't in the last 5 years. I have noticed that the latest craze on all the forums and news groups is the "crab free" reef but I for one love the crabs and would never do without them. IMHO a blue leg crab is much more active and efficient as a janitor. Also scarlet crabs are notoriously reef safe, hence thier other name, scarlet reef crab :wink:
Just another opinion to confuse you! Isn't that what this hobbies all about?!

 

[Anonymous]

Yep Soldiers,
Couldn't agree more!
I ordered an algea clean up crew, got 15 hermits and 30 asst. snails. Guess what I still have and what I had to replace. With that many hermits, I've had to replace snails multiple times. I need to get rid of few.
I agree that the blue legs and scarlets are the best, but around here their $7 & $8. apeice, while those red legs are a bargain.
I do like my mini brittle stars and the micro stars, not to mention the bristle worms, even got some spagetti worms, all do a great job of cleaning up.

Narrarius. Cerith and the conchs will all turn over your sand.