Cleaning crew?

Tswifty · 09/12/2007, 02:23 PM

I'm converting my 55g FOWLR into a reef tank, and am looking for a cleaning crew to purchase. Any recomendations?

An employee at my LFS told me that crabs are not good and will pick at corals. Also, that blue leg crabs have "poison" or some coating on their legs, and if they step on a coral it will kill it???

Is this guy correct, or should he be riding the short bus to work?

SaltyBoG Water · 09/12/2007, 03:24 PM

Whoa Good Question! i don't know the answer but i also have blue leg hermit crabs in my tank! i am gonna check it out and get back to you.

SaltyBoG Water · 09/12/2007, 03:29 PM

http://www.aquahobby.com/marine/e_bluehermit.php
thats a good site check it.

papagimp · 09/12/2007, 03:29 PM

blue leggs CAN kill your corals, but i don't think its because of some evil toxin on their legs. It's more from them crawling on the corals and irritating them/harming them to the point of brown jelly, rtn, or other. Skinny little hermit legs probably don't have much trouble piercing fleshy coral polyps. Alot of reefers keep them with no problems at all. I just hate em because they kill my snails faster than i can replenish them.

for a good cleaning crew, you'll want a nice variety of snails, from astreas, ceriths, nerites, nassarius (definatly get nassarius) some like turbos, I don't, but they do a good job. emerald crabs can be a nice addition, just don't expect to see em often or expect a miracle from them. I'd avoid things like sandsifting starsfish, a serpant star would be a much better option. Conchs can be okay, but they can also get very large. In a 55g, you could get away with a fighting conch if you have enough open sandbed and plan to target feed when it gets older (4-5")

Tswifty · 09/12/2007, 04:57 PM

Thanks for the tip... haha... yeah I was wondering if they possesed some superpower that I hadn't heard of... Well I guess he can ride a midsized bus... because although not totally wrong, that was a pretty wild reason he gave.

It seems from most of what I've read, I shouldn't have a problem as long as I keep a lot of extra shells available for them???

09/12/2007, 02:23 PM	#1
Tswifty Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: PA Posts: 14,022	Cleaning crew? I'm converting my 55g FOWLR into a reef tank, and am looking for a cleaning crew to purchase. Any recomendations? An employee at my LFS told me that crabs are not good and will pick at corals. Also, that blue leg crabs have "poison" or some coating on their legs, and if they step on a coral it will kill it??? Is this guy correct, or should he be riding the short bus to work?

09/12/2007, 03:24 PM	#2
SaltyBoG Water Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 190	Whoa Good Question! i don't know the answer but i also have blue leg hermit crabs in my tank! i am gonna check it out and get back to you. __________________ If you can walk, you can dance. If you can talk, you can sing. - African Proverb. Current Tank Info: 29 bio cube 25 lbs LR 40 lbs LS

09/12/2007, 03:29 PM	#3
SaltyBoG Water Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 190	http://www.aquahobby.com/marine/e_bluehermit.php thats a good site check it. __________________ If you can walk, you can dance. If you can talk, you can sing. - African Proverb. Current Tank Info: 29 bio cube 25 lbs LR 40 lbs LS

09/12/2007, 03:29 PM	#4
papagimp COMAS Rocks! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 8,185 Blog Entries: 2	blue leggs CAN kill your corals, but i don't think its because of some evil toxin on their legs. It's more from them crawling on the corals and irritating them/harming them to the point of brown jelly, rtn, or other. Skinny little hermit legs probably don't have much trouble piercing fleshy coral polyps. Alot of reefers keep them with no problems at all. I just hate em because they kill my snails faster than i can replenish them. for a good cleaning crew, you'll want a nice variety of snails, from astreas, ceriths, nerites, nassarius (definatly get nassarius) some like turbos, I don't, but they do a good job. emerald crabs can be a nice addition, just don't expect to see em often or expect a miracle from them. I'd avoid things like sandsifting starsfish, a serpant star would be a much better option. Conchs can be okay, but they can also get very large. In a 55g, you could get away with a fighting conch if you have enough open sandbed and plan to target feed when it gets older (4-5") __________________ 58g Softie & 75g Stoney Member, Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society Current Tank Info: 58g Mixed Reef Project - Started June 2011

09/12/2007, 04:57 PM	#5
Tswifty Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: PA Posts: 14,022	Thanks for the tip... haha... yeah I was wondering if they possesed some superpower that I hadn't heard of... Well I guess he can ride a midsized bus... because although not totally wrong, that was a pretty wild reason he gave. It seems from most of what I've read, I shouldn't have a problem as long as I keep a lot of extra shells available for them??? __________________ "Enough light? Heck I could go barebottom and grow SPS in the stand!" - DiscoReefRover