Rate my Detritus CUC

[SSpiro]

My 55g is coming off of its cycle, and I need to add a CUC. I don't have ANY hair algae that I can see, but have tons of detritus - mostly on the LR. Barely any on the sand.

Here is what I came up with, let me know what you would change/add/remove, etc.

6 - Blue-legged Hermit
15 - Nassarius Snail
1 - Sand-sifting starfish
2 - Peppermint Shrimp
2 - Spotted porcelin crab
3 - Nerite snail
1 - Serpent Seastar
1 - Tiger Cuc

Let me know your thoughts.. remember most of my detritus is on the LR.. It's hideous!

[bertoni]

I don't buy hermit crabs, since they're predatory. 4-5 Nassarius vibex should be enough for that size tank. They eat leftover food, primarily.

The sand-sifting starfish don't live long in our tanks, and should be avoided.

I don't think peppermint shrimp or porcelain crabs count as cleanup crew, although they're fun to watch. The same goes for the serpent star, since the tank has the Nassarius.

I think the tank will need more algae-eating snails. 3-4 Trochus and 6-12 Stomatella would be good.

[chem-e]

I like scarlet hermits, trochus snails, and nass snails. This is the current combination I have after trying different things. Just start with a few and add as needed.

[kevin2000]

My 02

That CUC is definitely not appropriate for a new 55 gallon tank - stick with a few snails that focus on algae (not nassarius which eat meat). As your tank matures then slowly add a CUC as necessary understanding that different critters eat different things.

[block head]

just bought two black turbo's like them alot, good on rock and glass

[SSpiro]

I picked up a few items yesterday, without checking this thread..

Got:

3 - Nassarius
12 - Astrea
6 - Blue-legged Hermit
2 - Peppermint Shrimp
1- Sand-sifting Star
1 - Serpent Star

Hopefully they'll do OK.. The sand-sifting buried himself the second I put him in after acclimating, and hasn't moved since.. but one of his legs is viewable against the glass and I can see his tube feet moving..

[Blown 346]

The sand sifting stars will bury themselves as soona s they are introduced since thats how they feed. They feed out of the sand bed, assl the wroms pods etc. Unless you have a very large foot print of a well matured deep sandbed the outcome of the starfish is not good. Like said above they will eventually starve, wither away and die.

One of my main rules I always follow and tell others is this.

Never buy anything to fix something a miss in the tank without tracking the cause of it. You can always clean up the mess yourself before you buy an animal who will most likely rely on the problem. Once that problem is gone, your happy, but the animal you purchased for it, will most likely starve.

As for the detritus on the rock, a normal mix of a cleanup crew will help like stated. I would increase waterflow, you dont have enough to get the detritus off the rock and in the water cloumn to be filtered out.

[Bremmon]

I have a relatively small CUC - 1 blue-legged hermit, 2 red-legged hermits, 3 astreas and 3 Nassarius snails. I did that because there wasn't a whole lot for them to eat so I didn't want them to starve.

So far my take:

1) Blue-legged hermit - Like this guy, mostly eats at night but always sticking to live rock.

2) Red-legged hermits - Love these guys. They too stick to the rock though the last couple of days one of them has started cleaning the sand (which is good since I started to get algae on it - my tank is only a little over a month hold so I expected a bit of algae). They don't bother the snails at all. . . at least not yet.

NOTE: On the hermits I personally have not had any issues with them bothering my snails. Maybe in time but since I don't have too many, they are not stumbling upon each other all the time. Also I threw in a few shells for the crabs. Had my crabs for a month and today was the first shell shuffle
Some have had issues with crabs so use at your own risk.
I have a feeling that if you have too many crabs, once they run out of food on the rocks or sand, they start looking at each other and the snails for entertainment

3) Astrea snails - 2 always stick to the rocks and one usually stays on the glass. This is fine since I hardly have any algae growth to speak of.

4) Nassarius snail - My favorites - they keep the sand aerated by burying themselves then coming up later to graze. These will greatly aid in cleaning up any extra food your fish miss. I've even seen them chomping on molting from the crab and shrimp I have.

I plan on getting 3 Cerith snails since I am now starting to get the expected new-tank algae bloom. Outside of the crabs, they will be the only ones I can count on to keep the sand clean of algae.

I hear alot of people say you need alot but other will say not too many. Bottom line is, what can your tank support so that they don't starve?

I didn't mention my shrimp because, so far, he doesn't go out of his way to clean up the tank (it is a fire shrimp) and virtually always stays in his chosen spot. I need to see if there is another shrimp that is a bit more free roaming.

Just my .02 worth. This has worked so far for me since there isn't alot to clean up in my tank yet.

[A.VOID]

My cleaner shrimp moves around all the time. Climbed up my arm yesterday.

The peppermint shrimp is typically more active at night. He'll be in a different spot everyday.

[Bremmon]

I think fire shrimp tends to be pretty shy. He has come up to my arm to clean it but I haven't seen him go out of his way to clean the tank of anything

He will molt somewhere away from his home though. Guess he doesn't want his house dirty

[papagimp]

I do agree that this seems an awful lot for a very new tank. Hopefully everyone finds enough to eat.

6 - Blue-legged Hermit I think these are fine, don't get too many more though.

15 - Nassarius Snail - not an algae eater so make sure they're getting sufficient foods

1 - Sand-sifting starfish - No, for all the reasons given already

2 - Peppermint Shrimp - a single one would have been more than plenty, if it'll even help.

2 - Spotted porcelin crab - not so much a "cleaner", they filter feed, but such a little amount, only reason to get one is so you can say you have a cool looking crab. Be sure he's getting plenty to eat. Dose Phyto/zooplankton.

3 - Nerite snail - Love these fella's, they really help clean the glass in my tank, but then they go and mess it up even worse by laying eggs EVERYWHERE CONSTANTLY, and the mag float isn't very effective at getting them off the glass, lol.

1 - Serpent Seastar - Sure why not, love these as well

1 - Tiger Cuc - My personal experience with these is about 5 minutes I saw mine before it disappeared in my tank never to be seen again. Sure it's dead by now.

[jamest0o0]

Cucumbers can be poisenous if stressed so I like to avoid them.... sandsifting stars only eat the good things in teh sand and are not good for your sand and will eventually starve...