Deciding on a clean up crew?? gobies??Suggestions?

[reefnooby]

Hey guys! So my 55 gallon is just coming out of its cycle. And am starting to get diatoms. in my 3 gallon all i have for a clean up crew is hermit crabs and turbo snails. I was wondering what kind of useful and unique critters could i add since i have more room to keep the tank clean. i was looking at the diamond gobies and they really neat. I am already populated with copepods and pretty sure i got amphipods on a frag of GSP's that i bought. any suggestions and comments would be great

setup is basic for now, 48"t5 lights , 300w Heater at 77-78 steady,about .5'' sandbed,easily 50 pounds of live rock, 2 submersible filters with phosphate reactors.

[Fish_King_25]

diamond gobies are a great CUC member, and they bring an awesome personality to any tank also. Just be weary of trying to keep any additional pod eaters in your tank with it for awhile at least until you have a VERY established population of pods. Mandarins and the like will hunt and consume pods all day, and a diamond goby will be eating from the same food source.

Other CUC suggestions will depend on what you plan on keeping..FOWLR? reef? softies, lps, sps?

I would definitely look at some Trochus snails. IME, no snail works like they do, and they have a cool shell design as a nice bonus I am not a hermit fan, some are, some aren't it's really preference. I am also a big fan of Nassarius snails to help with the sandbed. They are great.

[dragonfly1972]

IMO a basic must have cleaner crew has the following.....

Emerald crabs
Peppermint shrimp
Hermits
Snails, different varieties since they will control different algaes and prefer to clean diff things such as glass, sand or rock. My preference is nassarius, trochus, margaritas and cerith.

That's what I start with and then add from there.
I also have a fighting conch, pin cushion urchin, brittle stars, horseshoe crab and so on. There are so many choices

[Fish_King_25]

Originally Posted by dragonfly1972

IMO a basic must have cleaner crew has the following.....

Emerald crabs
Peppermint shrimp
Hermits
Snails, different varieties since they will control different algaes and prefer to clean diff things such as glass, sand or rock. My preference is nassarius, trochus, margaritas and cerith.

That's what I start with and then add from there.
I also have a fighting conch, pin cushion urchin, brittle stars, horseshoe crab and so on. There are so many choices

couldn't agree more with dragonfly..I too have a Fighting Conch, 2 emerald crabs, and am looking for a tuxedo urchin to pick up next

[reefnooby]

I'll ask my lfs to see if they have the creatures listed. Is there any specific requirements for the critters? The goal of the tank is to have corals,fish, inverts, and possibly an anemone . I'll most likely end up get th he diamond goby,a peppermint shrimp, and the brittle stars. I'll also ask about the different crabs and snails

[robotman]

i have a 55

roughly 20 astrea snails bought maybe 15 left

over 20 turbos bought, 2 large ones, roughly 12-14 of the large one left, 100 babys that sprouted probably more, and 5 of the babies have grown to half of a dime size.

over 30 nassarius snails bought, 1 medium size left, 5 large left, no babies small ones- turned into 2 pistol shrimps cave i believe

2 tiger conches- great great cleaners- these guys destroyed my cyano, literally sat there eating away, plus rowaphosguard

recently purchased 1 tuxedo urchin.

some of the best cuc in my opinion

turbos knock stuff over all the time, i dont mind though i like interacting with my tank putting frags back up lol

bought 4 emerald crabs, have not seen them in months

15 hermits - maybe 6-7 left

2 green serpent stars, they never move usually during the day.

[Fish_King_25]

Originally Posted by robotman

i have a 55

roughly 20 astrea snails bought maybe 15 left

over 20 turbos bought, 2 large ones, roughly 12-14 of the large one left, 100 babys that sprouted probably more, and 5 of the babies have grown to half of a dime size.

over 30 nassarius snails bought, 1 medium size left, 5 large left, no babies small ones- turned into 2 pistol shrimps cave i believe

2 tiger conches- great great cleaners- these guys destroyed my cyano, literally sat there eating away, plus rowaphosguard

recently purchased 1 tuxedo urchin.

some of the best cuc in my opinion

turbos knock stuff over all the time, i dont mind though i like interacting with my tank putting frags back up lol

bought 4 emerald crabs, have not seen them in months

15 hermits - maybe 6-7 left

2 green serpent stars, they never move usually during the day.

I've had my fighting conch about two weeks now, and today I finay saw him eating some cyano. I was so happy Trochus snails will nibble also

[robotman]

Originally Posted by Fish_King_25

I've had my fighting conch about two weeks now, and today I finay saw him eating some cyano. I was so happy Trochus snails will nibble also

i had a slight phosphate problem, started running phosguard, bought 2 fighting conch, 2 weeks later no cyano XD

[reefnooby]

I did have a slight phosphate problem also, I got the phosphate sponge and some phosphate and nitrate remover and things seem to be leveling out. I did pick up a diamond go by yesterday. The lfs had it labeled as a gold headed sleeper. And when I looked it up for behavior it was a diamond. He is really cool to watch making his den

[reefnooby]

Lol I came home and my single frag of gsp's were half covered. He was sifting away when I walked in the door and rushed off.when the lights came on.

[degibson84]

I like to keep a diverse clean up crew.

A conch won't work in a half inch sand bed

Also gobies will jump. I've lost 2 of them and gave up on them

A handful of each would work in a 55.

Trochus
Astraea
Cerith
Nerite
Margarita
Nassarius
Red leg hermit
Blue leg hermit
2 peppermint shrimp for aiptasia control

[reefnooby]

ill have to look into the shrimps and the other snails as im not sure which ones my lfs has. also, ive read up on the diamond goby and the forums/sites say its possible to pair it up with a pistol shrimp? also look into the emerald crabs

[airtime23]

You have to keep in mind that hermits will kill the snails, eventually.

[reefnooby]

They kill them for.the shells right? If I bought spare shells, would they still attack the snails?

[Xavibear]

Originally Posted by reefnooby

They kill them for.the shells right? If I bought spare shells, would they still attack the snails?

yes

[reefnooby]

Why my I ask ? I'm curious


Why do they kill the snail? Just cuz they are food?

[rsaha]

Originally Posted by reefnooby

Why my I ask ? I'm curious


Why do they kill the snail? Just cuz they are food?

Because they are food but I think they just like to hunt. I did the interceptor treatment for red bugs - killed all my hermits. Now I have snails breeding like crazy. All sorts of little snails that I can only assume were getting eaten before I even noticed them.

Big +1 on a fighting conch. Can't believe I went so long without one. Awesome.

[reefnooby]

My sand bed is only .5" and I think someone said that would be to little for a.conch. I might just stick with the diamond go by for.now and get different critters as my tank matures. Would the diamond goby be territorial adding new crabs or snails?

[robotman]

Originally Posted by reefnooby

My sand bed is only .5" and I think someone said that would be to little for a.conch. I might just stick with the diamond go by for.now and get different critters as my tank matures. Would the diamond goby be territorial adding new crabs or snails?

i would still think its enough for the conch, they might just not burrow that far, but diamond gobies will not pair with pistol shrimps. usually only watchman gobies do, i still got hermit crabs for entertainment, very fun to watch. yeah my hermits killed one of my very large nassarius for its shell, but this hermit was a hitchhiker.

[reefnooby]

Well I fed my diamond goby, I stuck some mysis in the mound right outside its cave and my god he eats really quick.