Clean up crew suggestions?

mudskipper1 · 09/27/2007, 05:54 PM

I was told by a friend/reefer that he likes peppermint shrimp, Astrea snails, and red egged crabs, any thoughts or suggestions about this.
I just set up a 40 gallon breeder(36"long x18" deep x17"tall. 6 days ago. I have a 10 gallon sump with about 250-300 gph goin through it. the sump is fed from a corner acrylic DIY overflow with a 1-inch bulkhead. I have a poly pad for mechanical filtration, a protein skimmer (prizm), a heater, 110 watt PC light, 5 small-ish powerheads, 30-40lbs live rock from another reefer so is very well cured . I have a bunch of yellow polyps that came on the rock. A couple kinds of zoos that came on LR. A few different kinds of mushrooms, a bunch of feather dusters, and various other small things.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

wintercool97 · 09/27/2007, 06:16 PM

Sounds like a good setup to me. A lot of people are going to say no crabs. I happen to like them and never had a problem with them. I like the turbo snails too, and nassarius snails for stirring up your sand might be in order.

bertoni · 09/27/2007, 06:22 PM

Crabs and hermit crabs are predatory, so they tend to eat snails, at least from time to time. If they get large enough, they can eat other animals, as well.

Shrimp aren't cleanup crew, in my opinion. They will eat leftover food, but there's lots of animals ready to do that. Astraea snails haven't been very long-lived for me. If they fall on the sand, they tend to get stuck and die.

Vinnie71975 · 09/27/2007, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bertoni
Crabs and hermit crabs are predatory, so they tend to eat snails, at least from time to time. If they get large enough, they can eat other animals, as well.

Shrimp aren't cleanup crew, in my opinion. They will eat leftover food, but there's lots of animals ready to do that. Astraea snails haven't been very long-lived for me. If they fall on the sand, they tend to get stuck and die.

Thought they were algae eaters? i mean i have heard of Hermits killing a Snail for the shell but never just out of hunger. I am a noob so i very well may be wrong but all my research says they are algae eaters.

bertoni · 09/27/2007, 07:12 PM

Hermit crabs tend not to be very picky about what they eat, and snails are often on the menu, not just being killed for shells.

flinka · 09/27/2007, 09:15 PM

trochus, nassarius, cerith and turbo snails work well for me.

DrBegalke · 09/27/2007, 10:09 PM

i like starting with one algae eating snail for every 2-3 gallons, and one hermit for every 2-3 gallons, plus one nassarius snail for every 10-15 gallons.

i use a mix of blue legged, scarlet, and zebra hermits. they will kill the occasional snail...

fav alage eaters are ceriths/strombus/collonista/stomatella b/c they reproduce, hence the occasional dead snail is no biggie. plus the later two are very small so no shell for the hermits to use.. also like astraea/trochus snails, nerites for a closed top (nano cube).

DrBegalke · 09/27/2007, 10:11 PM

PS i don't like turbos in smaller tanks b/c they tend to bulldoze everything... fighting conchs are pretty sweet for large systems...

09/27/2007, 05:54 PM	#1
mudskipper1 Trust Me I'm an Engineer Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan Posts: 1,085	Clean up crew suggestions? I was told by a friend/reefer that he likes peppermint shrimp, Astrea snails, and red egged crabs, any thoughts or suggestions about this. I just set up a 40 gallon breeder(36"long x18" deep x17"tall. 6 days ago. I have a 10 gallon sump with about 250-300 gph goin through it. the sump is fed from a corner acrylic DIY overflow with a 1-inch bulkhead. I have a poly pad for mechanical filtration, a protein skimmer (prizm), a heater, 110 watt PC light, 5 small-ish powerheads, 30-40lbs live rock from another reefer so is very well cured . I have a bunch of yellow polyps that came on the rock. A couple kinds of zoos that came on LR. A few different kinds of mushrooms, a bunch of feather dusters, and various other small things. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

09/27/2007, 06:22 PM	#3
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	Crabs and hermit crabs are predatory, so they tend to eat snails, at least from time to time. If they get large enough, they can eat other animals, as well. Shrimp aren't cleanup crew, in my opinion. They will eat leftover food, but there's lots of animals ready to do that. Astraea snails haven't been very long-lived for me. If they fall on the sand, they tend to get stuck and die. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

09/27/2007, 07:12 PM	#5
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	Hermit crabs tend not to be very picky about what they eat, and snails are often on the menu, not just being killed for shells. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

09/27/2007, 10:09 PM	#7
DrBegalke Go Buckeyes! Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Phoenix area, AZ Posts: 2,599	i like starting with one algae eating snail for every 2-3 gallons, and one hermit for every 2-3 gallons, plus one nassarius snail for every 10-15 gallons. i use a mix of blue legged, scarlet, and zebra hermits. they will kill the occasional snail... fav alage eaters are ceriths/strombus/collonista/stomatella b/c they reproduce, hence the occasional dead snail is no biggie. plus the later two are very small so no shell for the hermits to use.. also like astraea/trochus snails, nerites for a closed top (nano cube). __________________ ~Jason Begalke Current Tank Info: Latest project: JBJ Cubey

09/27/2007, 10:11 PM	#8
DrBegalke Go Buckeyes! Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Phoenix area, AZ Posts: 2,599	PS i don't like turbos in smaller tanks b/c they tend to bulldoze everything... fighting conchs are pretty sweet for large systems... __________________ ~Jason Begalke Current Tank Info: Latest project: JBJ Cubey

09/27/2007, 06:16 PM	#2
wintercool97 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: New Mexico Posts: 166	Sounds like a good setup to me. A lot of people are going to say no crabs. I happen to like them and never had a problem with them. I like the turbo snails too, and nassarius snails for stirring up your sand might be in order.

09/27/2007, 09:15 PM	#6
flinka Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Indianapolis, IN Posts: 149	trochus, nassarius, cerith and turbo snails work well for me.