Favourite CUC for Pico Reef Tank

potatocouch · 02/19/2014, 10:26 PM

What is your favourite janitor for a Pico reef tank (5g) ?

I am planning to get a cleaning unit that are small and will always stay small (dwarf), doesn't climb to the outerside of the wall tank, reef friendly & preferably hardy enough to live under bad circumstances.

And what is the # of them should I be getting?

thanks

hersheyb · 02/20/2014, 03:36 PM

i personally love dwarf cerith snails, they're pretty small and do a great job on my nano, although they do climb up to the top of my tank occasionally

potatocouch · 02/20/2014, 04:56 PM

can i say that cerith snails are dwarf ?

or is there 2 type of cerith snails .. the dwarf one and the not-so-dwarf one?

cerith snail does substrate but do they eat algae on LR?

what do you think of nassarius snail, peppermint shrimp, hermit crab?

hersheyb · 02/20/2014, 07:25 PM

So far all the ones I've seen and owned are about 1" largest... most of the ones i have are about 1/2-3/4" Cerith snails do pick off algae off my rocks, the best thing to do is to have a variety in you CUC. nassarius snails are great, they aren't algae eater, they eat whatever is leftovers from feeding your fish. Hermit crabs are entertaining but I don't like them because they are aggressive when it comes to food, they would pick food out of my corals and stress my corals out. They will also.. eventually kill your snails to take their shells.

In my tank i have handful of cerith snails and a few nassarius, I also have a few nerites snails in my tank, they're great (similar to turbo snails; algae grazers) but smaller. Peppermint shrimp are great too, but I prefer skunk shrimps, they tend to be more active.

btmedic04 · 02/21/2014, 12:55 AM

ive got both cerith and dwarf cerith snails. tomorrow when the light is on, ill snap some pictures for you so you can see the difference. pretty sure I have 2 different species of ceriths (shells are different) but they are about an inch and a half long. the dwarf ceriths are about 3/8ths to 5/8ths of an inch long. they cruise the glass and rock and hide under the sand during the day

edward1096 · 02/17/2016, 09:14 PM

serpent star and cleaner shrimp do a good job!

edward1096 · 02/17/2016, 09:15 PM

serpent star, bumble bee snails, cleaner shrimp

02/19/2014, 10:26 PM	#1
potatocouch Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 201	Favourite CUC for Pico Reef Tank What is your favourite janitor for a Pico reef tank (5g) ? I am planning to get a cleaning unit that are small and will always stay small (dwarf), doesn't climb to the outerside of the wall tank, reef friendly & preferably hardy enough to live under bad circumstances. And what is the # of them should I be getting? thanks

02/21/2014, 12:55 AM	#5
btmedic04 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Ohio Posts: 256	ive got both cerith and dwarf cerith snails. tomorrow when the light is on, ill snap some pictures for you so you can see the difference. pretty sure I have 2 different species of ceriths (shells are different) but they are about an inch and a half long. the dwarf ceriths are about 3/8ths to 5/8ths of an inch long. they cruise the glass and rock and hide under the sand during the day __________________ Current Tanks: New build in progress :)

02/20/2014, 03:36 PM	#2
hersheyb Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Covina Posts: 1,626	i personally love dwarf cerith snails, they're pretty small and do a great job on my nano, although they do climb up to the top of my tank occasionally

02/20/2014, 04:56 PM	#3
potatocouch Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 201	can i say that cerith snails are dwarf ? or is there 2 type of cerith snails .. the dwarf one and the not-so-dwarf one? cerith snail does substrate but do they eat algae on LR? what do you think of nassarius snail, peppermint shrimp, hermit crab?

02/20/2014, 07:25 PM	#4
hersheyb Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Covina Posts: 1,626	So far all the ones I've seen and owned are about 1" largest... most of the ones i have are about 1/2-3/4" Cerith snails do pick off algae off my rocks, the best thing to do is to have a variety in you CUC. nassarius snails are great, they aren't algae eater, they eat whatever is leftovers from feeding your fish. Hermit crabs are entertaining but I don't like them because they are aggressive when it comes to food, they would pick food out of my corals and stress my corals out. They will also.. eventually kill your snails to take their shells. In my tank i have handful of cerith snails and a few nassarius, I also have a few nerites snails in my tank, they're great (similar to turbo snails; algae grazers) but smaller. Peppermint shrimp are great too, but I prefer skunk shrimps, they tend to be more active.

02/17/2016, 09:14 PM	#6
edward1096 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Posts: 73	serpent star and cleaner shrimp do a good job!

02/17/2016, 09:15 PM	#7
edward1096 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Posts: 73	serpent star, bumble bee snails, cleaner shrimp