CUC Help for new 90 gallon

[Bubba123]

i have a 90 gallon that I will begin cycling this weekend. I likely have several weeks before I can add anything to the tank, but I am trying to get a solid plan down on paper to avoid impulse purchases.
I could use some help planning a a CUC. I have read a lot of conflicting info on this. I realize many people are not fans of crabs, and hermits, but I find them to be much more interesting than snails and want them to be included.
I checked out some of the custom packages online, but some are suggesting 100+ hermits, 100+ snails, or some combo of both. That seems like quite a load to add to a new tank, but what do I know. Also for snails I would like to keep to smaller types that can right themselves.

[drew2007]

Www.reefcleaners.org get I touch with them. They will set you up with what you need. A lot of people have ordered from them. They have a great reputation.

[theMatrix]

...i sort of feel like a cuc is over rated.

What works for me is I would toss a couple once the cycle is done to help with glass and rock work(diatoms) with manual mag glass cleaner then if fully cycled. I brush the rock work manually and instant white rocks again.

Has worked well again and again. I go the ccuc route. Chemical clean up crew.

[cheucklate]

If you want a personal opinion, here's an idea. Start off small. If you don't have enough food they will slowly die off. Sad to watch

Start with 16 snails. (2-3 of them being turbo, others can be like nassarius)
10 hermit crabs. (preferably smaller than your snails so the snails will have a better chance defending). You can add some more different crabs but do research. A lot of crabs are opportunistic eaters so you may lose a coral or two if there's not enough food in the tank.

Note they WILL fight. You can help diffuse the aggression by having a bunch of empty snail shells and putting them in a corner of the tank. Hopefully the crabs will not bother the live snails then.

Cleaner shrimps are my favorite, brings a lot of personality to a tank. Peppermints are a close second. Sexy shrimps are awesome but if you have aggressive fish, they may become dinner. Pistol shrimps are fun to watch when paired up with a goby, but I'd recommend a candy cane pistol shrimp (smallest of the species, thus least threatening).

I am assuming you are buying from a nearby LFS. If you have to buy online I suggest doubling my list. Enjoy the hobby! Don't over worry

[Bubba123]

Thanks cheucklate, I am definitely over worrying, but that should be a nice start. Do you have any experience with the fire red shrimp?
Matrix I appreciate the response, but it bought 90 lbs of LR covered in pretty coralline algae. I really don't want to scrub that off.

[DJasak]

Scarlet red reef hermits are a nice addition to a CUC. They seem to be the most peaceful of the Hermit crabs, though you still may run into that occasional crab that can be a little tormentor. Adding a handful of various sized empty snail shells will help cut down on aggression. With a new system about 5 of them is a good place to start out. The cleaner shrimps will do a little picking here and there at your rock, but where they really shine is cleaning your fish. They'll establish a little cleaning center in your tank where your fish will swim up and allow the shrimp to pick off any parasites or dead tissue. The fire shrimp and Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp are both well known for such behavior. Another interesting crab that is also more laid back is the emerald crab. I have one in my tank and plan to get a few more because they love to pick at your rock, eat any left overs and eat various types of algae, you won't see much activity out of them during the day because they are nocturnal, but rest assured they'll be busy all night. Again with a new system I'd only suggest starting with 1 and adding more later as the tank matures. Snails are very good when it comes to keeping the walls of your tank clean as well as your sand bed. Nassarius Snails like to burrow and will help with keeping your sand clean. Fighting conch is another great addition for your sand bed. For the walls of the tank a few turbo snails and Astraea Snails should do the trick. They'll also move along your rock work and help keep that clean as well. Lastly, after the tank matures a bit a serpent sea star is great because they can squeeze themselves into tight nooks and crannies to help clean up any detritus that may be accumulated. Just a little heads up, with a new tank you're going to experience a lot of uncontrollable, sudden and random blooms of algae that's just part of the cycling process. Don't overreact and add a ton more snails and Crabs because they won't be able to keep up with it, and when the bloom clears all those extra snails and Crabs will run out of food and starve. I made that mistake starting out and felt awful afterwards. so just to wrap things up (5) Scarlet Reef Hermit crabs, (1) emerald crab, (1) shrimp of your choice, (2-3) Turbo Snails, (3-4) Astraea snails, (5) nassarius snails, and a handful of empty snail shells. After the tank matures a bit a fighting conch and serpent sea star are nice additions and at that point you can add more Crabs and snails as well. Start with a small CUC and add more later on so you don't have any starving inhabitants fighting over the last flake of fish food, Good luck!

[MjKonesky]

trochus snails are amazing. long life if given a favorable acclimation and they can right themselves most of the time. you might consider starting out really slow with a CUC, as there will be a cycle of algae most likely. i have an old 90 with 2 sand sifters, 9 trochus, 6 red legged hermits, nesarrius (spelled wrong im sure lol), and some blue legged hermits. id stay away from astrea, turbos, margaritas. then dont like reef conditions. there are 2 truchus from what ive gathered, 1 is a cone shaped shell with some pink in it, and it looks like and astrea. the other is black and white and is shaped like a turbo. both are awesome. and a single emerald crab.

[Bubba123]

Thanks guys great info. Are the online packages, like the ones at reef cleaners, more for established tanks? They seem to suggest 5-10 times what you guys are saying.

[Mark9]

For reference, n my 65 gallon, I have 7 trochus snails, 2 nassarius snails (the large ones) and 1 fighting conch.
A hundred snails and a hundred hermits sounds like overkill to me.

[DJasak]

+1 mark9

[e048]

I have had astreas and turbos for years in my reef and they seem to be fine

I would ditch the crabs and go for cerinths astreas and trochus maybe 3-4 of each to start with then add more as needed I recommend a sand tiger conch later on to help clean your sand and peppermint shrimps to clean your rocks get a brittle star for detritus

[golferbud101691]

It really depends on the size. I can appreciate what mark is saying. In my 90 gallon, I have 4 turbos, 15 ceriths, and ~90 dwarf ceriths. The dwarfs are 1/8". TINY! I have to have those though because I am trying to keep my nitrates slightly above 0 to help with macro algae growth in my display refugium. So, I get some algae growth in the DT as well. They clean that up for me. Obviously my case is special, but you get the idea.

[Shawn O]

In a 90 I would suggest the following to start:
5 Caribbean Dwarf Cerith
5 Nassarius
5 Scarlet hermits

After two months add:
5 Mexican Dwarf Cerith
5 more Nassarius
5 Trochus
5 Nerite
5 more Scarlet or Dwarf Red Tip hermits

That should give you plenty of CUC. Add other critters such as shrimp or Serpent stars as you see fit over the next month or two. For other crabs I would recommend either kind of Porcelain crabs. Emeralds may do a good job on some types of algae but several people here have had bad experiences with them. They may make a good CUC member for in your sump.