Sandbed Cleanup Crew Pack

accel · 04/02/2018, 08:50 PM

In regards to sand bed cleanup crew, I am debating if I should get the 30G pack or the 55G pack. I have a 40G DT with 20G sump

Here’s the 55G pack
18 Cerith Snail (Mexico)
12 Super Tongan Nassarius Snail - Large
2 Fighting Conch (Tonga)

Backstory: I used to have 4 Nassarius snails. When I added an extra 5 Nassarius snails, for some reason I never saw 9 of them surfacing from the sand bed. Now I am only seeing 3 of them and I believe the other 6 have died already (?). The first four were drip acclimated for 2 hours. The next 5 were drip acclimated for an hour.

Here's the link to the 55G pack by the way.
https://m.liveaquaria.com/product/48...-pack-standard

j.falk · 04/03/2018, 04:01 AM

$77.99? You can buy a 55 gallon cleaner pack from Reefcleaners for $48 shipped although I doubt you would need that big of a crew for a 40. I bought a 20 long pack from RC and received way more than what was advertised as they are well known for giving extras with their orders. I also wouldn't drip acclimate them that long. Float them for 15 minutes for temp and then open the bags and drop them in.

accel · 04/03/2018, 05:31 AM

Thanks for the heads up j.falk. I am looking at the reefcleaners website and they definitely have a better deal. Their 40G package has more snails into it than LiveAquaria. I might go with the 20G or 30G pack because the 40G looks like I will be just building a tank for snails lol

jlmawp · 04/03/2018, 08:35 AM

In my opinion, it's always best to under-guess on a cleanup crew. If you need more to keep up with the algae, buy more. If you have too many, you paid too much and some of them will die from starvation.

sde1500 · 04/03/2018, 08:41 AM

The difference in those packages is that one you linked on LA is specifically for the sandbed. Those conchs are very good at cleaning up your sand. The reef cleaner package is a whole tank cleaner package. Nassarius are not as good as conchs on the sandbed thats for sure.

j.falk · 04/03/2018, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sde1500

The difference in those packages is that one you linked on LA is specifically for the sandbed. Those conchs are very good at cleaning up your sand. The reef cleaner package is a whole tank cleaner package. Nassarius are not as good as conchs on the sandbed thats for sure.

Good point...but would his 30 gallon tank be able to sustain a Fighting Conch long term? RC has them available but it specifically states on their sale page:

They reach a size of 4-5 inches long, and 3 inches high and can eat a large amount of algae. Because of their size we do not recommend them unless you have a tank 50 gallons or larger. However, you should know they live almost entirely in the sand, so if your substrate is almost entirely covered with rock you will need a larger tank than what is recommended.

sde1500 · 04/03/2018, 09:01 AM

Reef cleaners apples to apples comparison, or as close as possible;

18 Florida Cerith
2 Florida fighting conch
10 Nassarius Vibex

$34.30

And likely that is still a bit of overkill, 1 conch should do.

j.falk · 04/03/2018, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sde1500

Reef cleaners apples to apples comparison, or as close as possible;

18 Florida Cerith
2 Florida fighting conch
10 Nassarius Vibex

$34.30

And likely that is still a bit of overkill, 1 conch should do.

+ $35.00 Express Mail shipping fee...the conchs are overnight delivery required.

accel · 04/03/2018, 09:14 AM

I like the conch but I decided not to go with it because they get big based on the description, and I don't want them toppling things inside the tank. I had Turbo Snails before and they are GREAT eaters except they topple a lot of stuff in the tank.

I decided to go with Reef Cleaners with:
10 Dwarf Cerith
5 Florida Cerith
10 Nassarius
5 Nerite Snail

for $15 dollars instead of going with LiveAquaria for $77.99:

18 Cerith Snail (Mexico)
12 Super Tongan Nassarius Snail - Large
2 Fighting Conch (Tonga)

The extra money I spent on Chaeto and Pods on Reef Cleaners as well. I'll decide later if I still need the fighting conch.

themagicman · 04/03/2018, 10:22 AM

Worms is what you need to keep a DSB healthy IME, not an army of snails. You would be better off just stirring up the top layer with your finger or a stick every now & then if your going to go that route.

sde1500 · 04/03/2018, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by themagicman

Worms is what you need to keep a DSB healthy IME, not an army of snails. You would be better off just stirring up the top layer with your finger or a stick every now & then if your going to go that route.

Where did they say this was for a DSB?

themagicman · 04/03/2018, 10:32 AM

Woops.. My bad. The information still applies though. Put it this way neither your finger or a stick is going to pooping in the tank. Unless you've got a way to remove this crap along with all the other muck that's accumulated your basically just moving things from one place to another.

accel · 04/03/2018, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by themagicman

Worms is what you need to keep a DSB healthy IME, not an army of snails. You would be better off just stirring up the top layer with your finger or a stick every now & then if your going to go that route.

I don't have a DSB (6 to 8 inches). I do stir the sand with a stick (using Kent Marine Sea Squirt Feeder tool to be exact) but I figured having snails to help me around would be great.

Frogmanx82 · 04/04/2018, 10:31 AM

The conch won't climb on rocks so they aren't as destructive as turbos which I would never get. Trochus snails do much better. Also the nassarius snails I got from Reefcleaners were tiny so it does take a few to amount to anything. If you're getting large ones, near an inch in size, I wouldn't get that many. 5 or 6 would be plenty.

I'm also not a fan of the Nerites laying eggs all over the place that don't hatch. Again the Trochus is just a better snail.

Cstone123 · 04/06/2018, 04:10 PM

If it’s the sand you want clean, buy 5280 copapods, they eat the poopy. Plant them in your sump, with cobble and Cheeto, Can’t go wrong. Snails help with overall tank cleanliness but you can actually over clean and starve out some life. Everything alive in the sand eats what you don’t want in the water, everything in the water, feeds what’s in the sand. Balance, if you vacume the sand bed, you remove some of your septic system. Refugium has a big role in this too but just saying.

accel · 04/06/2018, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frogmanx82

The conch won't climb on rocks so they aren't as destructive as turbos which I would never get. Trochus snails do much better. Also the nassarius snails I got from Reefcleaners were tiny so it does take a few to amount to anything. If you're getting large ones, near an inch in size, I wouldn't get that many. 5 or 6 would be plenty.

I'm also not a fan of the Nerites laying eggs all over the place that don't hatch. Again the Trochus is just a better snail.

I just got my snails today from Reef Cleaners. You're right. The Nassarius snails are small but so far they look okay. I will be getting the conch soon. It looks like I need a high powered sand mower lol. I forgot about the Trochus. I was looking for that one here at my LFS but can't find it so I weny with the Turbo. My other tank is basically a Turbo tank now. I feed them daily with pellets. The tank is the cleanest tank I have seen so far.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cstone123

If it’s the sand you want clean, buy 5280 copapods, they eat the poopy. Plant them in your sump, with cobble and Cheeto, Can’t go wrong. Snails help with overall tank cleanliness but you can actually over clean and starve out some life. Everything alive in the sand eats what you don’t want in the water, everything in the water, feeds what’s in the sand. Balance, if you vacume the sand bed, you remove some of your septic system. Refugium has a big role in this too but just saying.

I ordered those too from AlgaeBarn along with the Phyto last week. It should be coming tomorrow. Last night I just saw I have a couple of copepods on the glass already--not sure how I got those considering the tank isn't even a month old.

accel · 04/07/2018, 07:39 PM

So I got the snails from Reef Cleaners. Now I understand why there is so many of them in a standard cleaner pack because they are small and tiny snails. I don't mind the size as long as they do their jobs. To be honest it feels like a big letdown compare to my Astrea and specially my super Turbo snails on my 10G tank.

These snails I got are rarely visible. The Nassarius snails don't surface up. The ones I get from Petco originally are the only ones that are responsive when feeding. The 5 Nerites snail did move eventually but instead went to the top corner and started laying eggs. The Ceriths some of them are moving. There's probably one or two DOA but I can't really tell what they'd been doing. Maybe I just had the wrong expectation on these snails.

I am considering of getting the Fighting Conch from Reef Central but the $35 next day fee is a lot. I kinda think the original LiveAquaria deal sounds better since it has the Fighting Conch already included with the same number of snails and I don't have to pay an extra shipping fee (granted the shipping is already included on their price). LiveAquaria has the Trochus snail as well but ReefCleaners don't. I guess overall the LiveAquaria package is more convenient plus you can add other snails.

04/02/2018, 08:50 PM	#1
accel Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 110	Sandbed Cleanup Crew Pack In regards to sand bed cleanup crew, I am debating if I should get the 30G pack or the 55G pack. I have a 40G DT with 20G sump Here’s the 55G pack 18 Cerith Snail (Mexico) 12 Super Tongan Nassarius Snail - Large 2 Fighting Conch (Tonga) Backstory: I used to have 4 Nassarius snails. When I added an extra 5 Nassarius snails, for some reason I never saw 9 of them surfacing from the sand bed. Now I am only seeing 3 of them and I believe the other 6 have died already (?). The first four were drip acclimated for 2 hours. The next 5 were drip acclimated for an hour. Here's the link to the 55G pack by the way. https://m.liveaquaria.com/product/48...-pack-standard

04/03/2018, 08:41 AM	#5
sde1500 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Glocester, RI Posts: 3,336	The difference in those packages is that one you linked on LA is specifically for the sandbed. Those conchs are very good at cleaning up your sand. The reef cleaner package is a whole tank cleaner package. Nassarius are not as good as conchs on the sandbed thats for sure. __________________ My build thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2548422 Current Tank Info: 65 gallon mixed reef, Eshopps sump and HOB overflow, RO-110int skimmer, Reefbreeder 32" photons V1.

04/03/2018, 09:01 AM	#7
sde1500 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Glocester, RI Posts: 3,336	Reef cleaners apples to apples comparison, or as close as possible; 18 Florida Cerith 2 Florida fighting conch 10 Nassarius Vibex $34.30 And likely that is still a bit of overkill, 1 conch should do. __________________ My build thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2548422 Current Tank Info: 65 gallon mixed reef, Eshopps sump and HOB overflow, RO-110int skimmer, Reefbreeder 32" photons V1.

04/03/2018, 10:22 AM	#10
themagicman Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2016 Location: California Posts: 126	Worms is what you need to keep a DSB healthy IME, not an army of snails. You would be better off just stirring up the top layer with your finger or a stick every now & then if your going to go that route. __________________ "Abracadabra Holmes."

04/03/2018, 10:32 AM	#12
themagicman Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2016 Location: California Posts: 126	Woops.. My bad. The information still applies though. Put it this way neither your finger or a stick is going to pooping in the tank. Unless you've got a way to remove this crap along with all the other muck that's accumulated your basically just moving things from one place to another. __________________ "Abracadabra Holmes."

04/03/2018, 04:01 AM	#2
j.falk Registered Member Join Date: May 2017 Posts: 632	$77.99? You can buy a 55 gallon cleaner pack from Reefcleaners for $48 shipped although I doubt you would need that big of a crew for a 40. I bought a 20 long pack from RC and received way more than what was advertised as they are well known for giving extras with their orders. I also wouldn't drip acclimate them that long. Float them for 15 minutes for temp and then open the bags and drop them in.

04/03/2018, 05:31 AM	#3
accel Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 110	Thanks for the heads up j.falk. I am looking at the reefcleaners website and they definitely have a better deal. Their 40G package has more snails into it than LiveAquaria. I might go with the 20G or 30G pack because the 40G looks like I will be just building a tank for snails lol

04/03/2018, 08:35 AM	#4
jlmawp Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 595	In my opinion, it's always best to under-guess on a cleanup crew. If you need more to keep up with the algae, buy more. If you have too many, you paid too much and some of them will die from starvation.

04/03/2018, 09:14 AM	#9
accel Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 110	I like the conch but I decided not to go with it because they get big based on the description, and I don't want them toppling things inside the tank. I had Turbo Snails before and they are GREAT eaters except they topple a lot of stuff in the tank. I decided to go with Reef Cleaners with: 10 Dwarf Cerith 5 Florida Cerith 10 Nassarius 5 Nerite Snail for $15 dollars instead of going with LiveAquaria for $77.99: 18 Cerith Snail (Mexico) 12 Super Tongan Nassarius Snail - Large 2 Fighting Conch (Tonga) The extra money I spent on Chaeto and Pods on Reef Cleaners as well. I'll decide later if I still need the fighting conch.

04/04/2018, 10:31 AM	#14
Frogmanx82 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 1,515	The conch won't climb on rocks so they aren't as destructive as turbos which I would never get. Trochus snails do much better. Also the nassarius snails I got from Reefcleaners were tiny so it does take a few to amount to anything. If you're getting large ones, near an inch in size, I wouldn't get that many. 5 or 6 would be plenty. I'm also not a fan of the Nerites laying eggs all over the place that don't hatch. Again the Trochus is just a better snail. __________________ Exodus 8:2 Check my homepage for tank pics and details. Current Tank Info: 90 gallon, 2x maxspect R420R LED, 4 Ocellaris Clowns, Yellow Eye Kole Tang, Flame Angel, Foxface Rabbitfish, Banggai Cardinals, Azure Damsel, rock flower anemone, cleaner shrimp, serpent star

04/06/2018, 04:10 PM	#15
Cstone123 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Marshall mi Posts: 36	If it’s the sand you want clean, buy 5280 copapods, they eat the poopy. Plant them in your sump, with cobble and Cheeto, Can’t go wrong. Snails help with overall tank cleanliness but you can actually over clean and starve out some life. Everything alive in the sand eats what you don’t want in the water, everything in the water, feeds what’s in the sand. Balance, if you vacume the sand bed, you remove some of your septic system. Refugium has a big role in this too but just saying.

04/07/2018, 07:39 PM	#17
accel Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 110	So I got the snails from Reef Cleaners. Now I understand why there is so many of them in a standard cleaner pack because they are small and tiny snails. I don't mind the size as long as they do their jobs. To be honest it feels like a big letdown compare to my Astrea and specially my super Turbo snails on my 10G tank. These snails I got are rarely visible. The Nassarius snails don't surface up. The ones I get from Petco originally are the only ones that are responsive when feeding. The 5 Nerites snail did move eventually but instead went to the top corner and started laying eggs. The Ceriths some of them are moving. There's probably one or two DOA but I can't really tell what they'd been doing. Maybe I just had the wrong expectation on these snails. I am considering of getting the Fighting Conch from Reef Central but the $35 next day fee is a lot. I kinda think the original LiveAquaria deal sounds better since it has the Fighting Conch already included with the same number of snails and I don't have to pay an extra shipping fee (granted the shipping is already included on their price). LiveAquaria has the Trochus snail as well but ReefCleaners don't. I guess overall the LiveAquaria package is more convenient plus you can add other snails.