Planned Cleaning Crew?

KAnders87 · 09/23/2016, 01:03 PM

Hi all! I am completely new to SW, but I have started cycling a 36 gallon bowfront tank. Planning on doing a reef tank with soft corals and mostly easy keepers (you know, cause I'm new). I am starting to plan for what is going in the tank and when, and was just looking for a little guidance. This is my planned cleaning crew...

10 - Scarlet hermit crabs
24 - Dwarf blue leg hermits
5 - dwarf yellow tip hermits
5 - dwarf zebra/orange & black hermits

10- Astraea Turbo snails
10- Nassarium Snails

3 - Peppermint Shrimp
1 - Coral banded shrimp

2- Porcelain crabs
1- Fighting Conch
1- Brittle Sea Star

*I based these numbers and species off of a cleaner pack from Liveaquaria.com

Is there anything that I should change? Are my numbers ok? All should be compatible (I believe). Or any other general suggestions?

Also, do I acclimate each species separately?
Thank you for any assistance

farfromsea · 09/23/2016, 02:57 PM

My hermit crab routinely kills my snails. If he hadn't been a hitchhiker and I wasn't attached to him I would not mix hermits and snails. Others report no problems and some have the same issue as me.

I like my fighting conch a lot.

Sorry I can't give advice on numbers someone else will chime in.

iiismet · 09/23/2016, 03:09 PM

I agree that the hermits will kill the snails, and probably each other having so many in a 36

jlmawp · 09/23/2016, 03:20 PM

Call me crazy, but that seems like a very large cleanup crew for a 36 gallon. It might be okay starting out (it's large even then), but when the uglies clear up, there won't be enough to feed that many mouths. I'd consider scaling it back a fair amount.

Sk8r · 09/23/2016, 03:21 PM

Introduce it bit at a time, as your need increases. about 6 cleaners at first, building to full crew. Scarlet hermits won't kill snails IF you supply spare hermit shells. And they're very specific as to species: get exactly the same type shell as crabs are using. A 36 is generally too small to support a conch. And the coral banded shrimp may kill fish.

oneofmany · 09/23/2016, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KAnders87

Hi all! I am completely new to SW, but I have started cycling a 36 gallon bowfront tank. Planning on doing a reef tank with soft corals and mostly easy keepers (you know, cause I'm new). I am starting to plan for what is going in the tank and when, and was just looking for a little guidance. This is my planned cleaning crew...

10 - Scarlet hermit crabs
24 - Dwarf blue leg hermits
5 - dwarf yellow tip hermits
5 - dwarf zebra/orange & black hermits

10- Astraea Turbo snails
10- Nassarium Snails

3 - Peppermint Shrimp
1 - Coral banded shrimp

2- Porcelain crabs
1- Fighting Conch
1- Brittle Sea Star

*I based these numbers and species off of a cleaner pack from Liveaquaria.com

Is there anything that I should change? Are my numbers ok? All should be compatible (I believe). Or any other general suggestions?

Also, do I acclimate each species separately?
Thank you for any assistance

For a 36 gallon tank the CUC listed above is way too much IMO. I think you would be better off just going with 5-7 Trochus snails and maybe a couple Scarlet hermit crabs. Use something like a Mag-Float to clean the glass and either stir up or vacuum your sand bed on a regular basis. Assuming things go right all this nuisance algae your seeing at first will be replaced by Coralline algae anyways and the tank will balance out the population for you. (casualties) If your dead set on having a shrimp in your tank and your using live rock then you might want to limit it to just a pair of Peppermint shrimp. These have been known to eat Aiptasia plus they'll breed on a regular basis too, which your corals will have a field day with. The CBS can cause problems sometimes, especially in a tank as small as this. As far as the Conch, the Brittle star and the Porcelain crabs go, I would skip these as well. The Conch can move some sand around, but it's really not needed if your going to do the work yourself. The Porcelain crabs are more for looks than anything else and I believe the Brittle stars can get pretty big, but adding one is definitely a possibility though.
If you just want to add a bunch of pets to your tank as opposed to janitors then the more the merrier I guess, but a little elbow grease can go a long way sometimes.

Ztous · 09/23/2016, 07:20 PM

10 - Scarlet hermit crabs
8- Astraea Turbo snails

I don't bother with astrea they are slow and don't self right themselves well. Trochus all the way.

4- Nassarium Snails
2 - Peppermint Shrimp
1- Porcelain crabs
1- Brittle Sea Star

This is what I would shoot for you can always add more but too much and things will starve and kill each other.

KAnders87 · 09/23/2016, 08:33 PM

Thank you everyone! I thought the numbers seemed high, but again I'm new so still researching a lot. I'm surprised that liveaquaria recommended so many of each species but I am happy to scale it down drastically. I think I'll go for 5 Trochus snails, 2 Peppermint shrimp, 1 Porcelain crab, and then add a few hermit crabs if needed. That'll save me $ and bioload!

texdoc77 · 09/23/2016, 08:47 PM

I'm not a fan of hermits and don't like the shell litter that is needed to keep scarlets from hurting other snails...

09/23/2016, 01:03 PM	#1
KAnders87 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: Northern IL Posts: 2	Planned Cleaning Crew? Hi all! I am completely new to SW, but I have started cycling a 36 gallon bowfront tank. Planning on doing a reef tank with soft corals and mostly easy keepers (you know, cause I'm new). I am starting to plan for what is going in the tank and when, and was just looking for a little guidance. This is my planned cleaning crew... 10 - Scarlet hermit crabs 24 - Dwarf blue leg hermits 5 - dwarf yellow tip hermits 5 - dwarf zebra/orange & black hermits 10- Astraea Turbo snails 10- Nassarium Snails 3 - Peppermint Shrimp 1 - Coral banded shrimp 2- Porcelain crabs 1- Fighting Conch 1- Brittle Sea Star *I based these numbers and species off of a cleaner pack from Liveaquaria.com Is there anything that I should change? Are my numbers ok? All should be compatible (I believe). Or any other general suggestions? Also, do I acclimate each species separately? Thank you for any assistance

09/23/2016, 03:21 PM	#5
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Introduce it bit at a time, as your need increases. about 6 cleaners at first, building to full crew. Scarlet hermits won't kill snails IF you supply spare hermit shells. And they're very specific as to species: get exactly the same type shell as crabs are using. A 36 is generally too small to support a conch. And the coral banded shrimp may kill fish. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

09/23/2016, 08:47 PM	#9
texdoc77 Registered Member Join Date: May 2015 Location: Waco, TX Posts: 417	I'm not a fan of hermits and don't like the shell litter that is needed to keep scarlets from hurting other snails... __________________ "The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self; all your wishes and precautions; to Christ." -C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity) Current Tank Info: Currently Rebuilding

09/23/2016, 02:57 PM	#2
farfromsea Registered Member Join Date: May 2016 Posts: 549	My hermit crab routinely kills my snails. If he hadn't been a hitchhiker and I wasn't attached to him I would not mix hermits and snails. Others report no problems and some have the same issue as me. I like my fighting conch a lot. Sorry I can't give advice on numbers someone else will chime in.

09/23/2016, 03:09 PM	#3
iiismet Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 60	I agree that the hermits will kill the snails, and probably each other having so many in a 36

09/23/2016, 03:20 PM	#4
jlmawp Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 595	Call me crazy, but that seems like a very large cleanup crew for a 36 gallon. It might be okay starting out (it's large even then), but when the uglies clear up, there won't be enough to feed that many mouths. I'd consider scaling it back a fair amount.

09/23/2016, 07:20 PM	#7
Ztous Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Posts: 220	10 - Scarlet hermit crabs 8- Astraea Turbo snails I don't bother with astrea they are slow and don't self right themselves well. Trochus all the way. 4- Nassarium Snails 2 - Peppermint Shrimp 1- Porcelain crabs 1- Brittle Sea Star This is what I would shoot for you can always add more but too much and things will starve and kill each other.

09/23/2016, 08:33 PM	#8
KAnders87 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: Northern IL Posts: 2	Thank you everyone! I thought the numbers seemed high, but again I'm new so still researching a lot. I'm surprised that liveaquaria recommended so many of each species but I am happy to scale it down drastically. I think I'll go for 5 Trochus snails, 2 Peppermint shrimp, 1 Porcelain crab, and then add a few hermit crabs if needed. That'll save me $ and bioload!