more to CUC

f3honda4me · 01/22/2012, 10:57 AM

I have an initial batch of CUC that is working great, so I think I'm going to order more. This is for my 75G, I want to make sure it's not too much.

Already have:
3 peppermint shrimp
13 banded trochus
7 assorted hermits
15 medium/small nerites
5 florida ceriths
10 nassarius
30 dwarf cerith

I would like to add/order:
10 banded trochus (so I'll have a total of 23)
15 blue leg hermits (so I'll have 22 total hermits)
18 florida ceriths (so I'll have 23 total)
15 nassarius (so i'll have 25 total)
12 large nerites (so ill have 12 large and 15 small/medium)
1 urchin of some kind... maybe rock boring or pincushion urchin?

Is that going to be too much for my 75G? I have a 25G sump and plenty of algae/diatoms/etc for them to eat, and have about 80 lbs live rock.

f3honda4me · 01/22/2012, 01:40 PM

Also do I need to worry about anything special with the urchins? Do they add bioload like fish, or are they more like the snails where there isn't much bioload added?

acpoweradapter · 01/22/2012, 03:32 PM

Is your current CUC not cleaning all the algae? Or is there enough algae left to basically double your CUC?

I'm not sure if it would be too much, depends on your bioload already. I have in my 20 gal, one cleaner shrimp, a nerite, one hermit, and 2 nassarius and they get the job done.

Zappo · 01/22/2012, 03:54 PM

I've got one turbo snail, two or three astraea's, one margarita snail, two large nassarius snails, two small nassarius, and about a half dozen hermit crabs cleaning my 90g tank and it stays spotless other than the hard to reach places that need a little manual cleaning. I had more snails and crabs but they staved to death in the first year. How are you keeping 80+ critters fed in your tank? Are you transferring algae from the sump to the DT regularly?

If your tank isn't algae free, I'd look into what's causing so much of it to grow rather than adding more critters to the system.

f3honda4me · 01/22/2012, 05:22 PM

I have a ton of cyano and diatoms. Also some green hair algae. My tank finished cycle like 10 days ago? It's probably there because it's a newly cycled tank. Plus the die off from the live rock I bought. The current crew is doing cleaning but they can't seem to keep up at the moment.

f3honda4me · 01/22/2012, 05:23 PM

I decided to order more though only about half of what I was going to do above.

01/22/2012, 10:57 AM	#1
f3honda4me Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,218	more to CUC I have an initial batch of CUC that is working great, so I think I'm going to order more. This is for my 75G, I want to make sure it's not too much. Already have: 3 peppermint shrimp 13 banded trochus 7 assorted hermits 15 medium/small nerites 5 florida ceriths 10 nassarius 30 dwarf cerith I would like to add/order: 10 banded trochus (so I'll have a total of 23) 15 blue leg hermits (so I'll have 22 total hermits) 18 florida ceriths (so I'll have 23 total) 15 nassarius (so i'll have 25 total) 12 large nerites (so ill have 12 large and 15 small/medium) 1 urchin of some kind... maybe rock boring or pincushion urchin? Is that going to be too much for my 75G? I have a 25G sump and plenty of algae/diatoms/etc for them to eat, and have about 80 lbs live rock.

01/22/2012, 03:32 PM	#3
acpoweradapter Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Alabama Posts: 527	Is your current CUC not cleaning all the algae? Or is there enough algae left to basically double your CUC? I'm not sure if it would be too much, depends on your bioload already. I have in my 20 gal, one cleaner shrimp, a nerite, one hermit, and 2 nassarius and they get the job done. __________________ ~ Elos Mini ~ Alabama Reefers

01/22/2012, 01:40 PM	#2
f3honda4me Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,218	Also do I need to worry about anything special with the urchins? Do they add bioload like fish, or are they more like the snails where there isn't much bioload added?

01/22/2012, 03:54 PM	#4
Zappo Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Minnetonka, MN Posts: 582	I've got one turbo snail, two or three astraea's, one margarita snail, two large nassarius snails, two small nassarius, and about a half dozen hermit crabs cleaning my 90g tank and it stays spotless other than the hard to reach places that need a little manual cleaning. I had more snails and crabs but they staved to death in the first year. How are you keeping 80+ critters fed in your tank? Are you transferring algae from the sump to the DT regularly? If your tank isn't algae free, I'd look into what's causing so much of it to grow rather than adding more critters to the system.

01/22/2012, 05:22 PM	#5
f3honda4me Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,218	I have a ton of cyano and diatoms. Also some green hair algae. My tank finished cycle like 10 days ago? It's probably there because it's a newly cycled tank. Plus the die off from the live rock I bought. The current crew is doing cleaning but they can't seem to keep up at the moment.

01/22/2012, 05:23 PM	#6
f3honda4me Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,218	I decided to order more though only about half of what I was going to do above.