I'm researching what kind of clean up crew i'll need for a 46 g reef. This website: http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/productDeta...621&cid=313
says that this is their ultimate CUC, and gives options for 25, 50, and so on many gallons. For 50 gallons of reef tank, it suggests to buy this package which has this list of animals:

Lettuce Slugs 2
Lawnmower Blenny 1
Serpent Starfish 1
Sand Sifting Starfish 1
Astraea Snails 9
Nerite Snails 12
Margarita Snails 12
Turbo Snails 3
Onyx Nassarius Snails 14
Nassarius Snails 12
Cerith Snails 12
Tonga Fighting Conch 2
Red Leg Reef Hermit Crabs 12
Blue Leg Reef Hermit Crabs 12
Scarlet Reef Hermit Crabs 6
Sally Lightfoot Crabs 1
Emerald Crabs 2
Tiger Tail Cucumbers 1

This just seems like a lot to me, because my 10g tank has two hermits, and around 10 snails... Is this a good deal, price wise and critter wise, and do I need this much CUC? It's $130. Also, has anyone purchased anything live from this website before?

thanks a bunch!

Reefcleaners.org will save all of your problems for much cheaper. And that is too much for your 10 gallon, definitely. Just ask for a custom clean up crew and list your needs and John will take care of you for MUCH MUCH cheaper.

Nemo speaks truth. Reefcleaners.org cannot be beat.

margarita is a no, unless you are going with a cold tank.

Red Leg Reef Hermit Crabs 12
Blue Leg Reef Hermit Crabs 12
Scarlet Reef Hermit Crabs 6
Sally Lightfoot Crabs 1
Emerald Crabs 2

You might have 1 mithrax left after they kill each other.


Astraea Snails 9
Pain in the ass. They can't right themselves in the tank. You spend all day flippin 'em back over or pulling out shells because the hermits ate them

Tonga Fighting Conch 2
Pretty sure these guys get too big for a nano (need to look that up to be sure though)

Turbo Snails 3
Big BIG snail. 1 Tops

Sand Sifting Starfish 1
Need a deep sand bed. Stay away from starfish that aren't brittles. DO NOT GET A GREEN BRITTLE



Tiger Tail Cucumbers 1

Not worth it. For more advanced keepers.

Onyx Nassarius Snails 14
Nassarius Snails 12

Nass don't eat algea. Poop and meat. You need 'em but not nearly that many

Lettuce Slugs 2
Generally only eat ONE species of algea. Cool, but you don't want to starve one to death


Edit: I outfitted my 24 and 2 4g pico's withreefcleaners.org for around 50$ with shipping.

this is for his 46 gal. not 10 gal. people read the ????????...lol

Thanks! Yeah, that seemed like a lot for 46 gallons. I will definitely check out reefcleaners.org!

Also, thanks for the tips on individual critters. Astraea snails are a pain, I currently have two in my 10 gallon...

I did read it

I made some copy pasta from the list out of laziness I freely admit that

People are forever throwing all kindsa crabs together, then they come back and post about some secret rock monster eating all their crabs

Also, Sally light foot not reef safe

Edit: I stand behind my 1 turbo per tank. Booger's are fast for a snail and I can't imagine trying to pick up everything in the tank every morning after 2 of them have bulldozed through.

Well, I don't want fighting amongst my crabs...

no sally light foot then.

and 1 turbo. Gotcha!

Heh, adding a sally lightfoot to a tank with all of those snails and other creatures is like letting Jason loose at a Linkin Park concert.

I'd say from personal experience that the best all around cleaners are probably the Cerith snails. Mine went over the sand, glass, rock, and just about every nook and crevice in between. My second best recommendation would probably be nerites. The ones I received from reefcleaners liked to hang around at the water line, and they kept the upper portions of the glass clean; something that most snails I've seen tend not to do. Only drawback was that they occasionally found a spot to crawl out of the tank and take a walk.

@the nassarius snails, I have a few, but I keep them mainly just because they're fun to watch at feeding time. For general detritus eaters, you can't beat plain old bristleworms, IMO.

Can we please let Jason out at a Creed concert? (Hey!? Scott Stapp STFU)


Bristleworms are more effective, but my nass are a little faster to get stuff. Plus it's freakin' awesome to watch the zombies rise "BBBBRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIINS* I would definitely get those from John, I have seen many LFS' selling whelks as nass. Whelks are predatory (Nass have a groove on their shell near the foot that whelks don't)

+1 to most. I would avoid that many hermits as well. seaslugs will starve or get shredded by a powerhead...avoid them. I'd only get 1 conch. Asteria snails do need flipped over, but mine never fall over and attatch pretty strongly to rock.

thanks guys! I emailed John, at reefcleaners.org about my tank and requirements on their custom tank thingy. Hopefully he'll get back to me, but it doesn't have to be that soon. The 46 gallon will probably go up by the end of november, early december... I still have a few weeks to sort stuff out.

Yeah, no sea slugs I guess, though they are cool looking. And I also have astraea snails that stick pretty well in my 10 g. Never really have problems with them.

In the past when I got cerith snails, they did a good job, but were demolished by the hermits...

I guess my astrea's ride the short bus then they can't seem to stay upright. Of course my turbo is always mowing them down too...

John will get back with you, maybe not immediately but it will be fairly quickly. He says the cold weather starts his busy time so maybe a few days to a week, but reefcleaners is Uber customer oriented so it won't be an unreasonable amount of time.

Dwarf Ceriths = tiny snail army. Sung to the tune of old army slogan *beeee,all that you can be! Get an edge on algea in the cerith armyyyyy"

On top of that, beware of ilyanassa snails. I've seen multiple stores selling them as nassarius snails, and they're always all over ebay and other auction sites. You won't find them on 99% of the reputable sites, but in case you're looking for nassarius snails from a local shop, it always pays to be careful.

This was a pretty good article on them- http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/mg/index.php

nowadays they call the they call them onyx nassarius, black nassarius and a few other names now. sells better that way apparently.

Might I suggest chitons as well? John had some fuzzy ones for a while, not sure if he still does.

If you get small enough astreas, they seem to have less of a problem with flipping themselves over, especially after they get use to the tank and whatnot

I just gave up on the regular astrea's. Put the one's that hadn't been eaten in the pico's and bought 2 more fuzzy chitons (which were on sale ) So yeah, they still carry the fuzzy's

Hmm I'm really curious what kind of narcissus snails I have now in my 10 gallon. They are round and smooth and various shades of gray...? But I haven't seen any problems with them, and all my coral and other inverts are happy and healthy, except for my elegance coral, which has been mad at me recently. Though I suspect that it has to do with the fact that my court jester goby keeps using it as a eaten sand dumpster.... Regardless, I moved it off the sand a slightly higher onto a rock and it's starting to extend its tentacles again, but I digress.

I don't really know anything about chitons, and I said "no" to the "do you have any interest in chitons and limpets?" question I'll look into that though...

I always pimp out the chiton.

Limpets suck nard. They are worse than astrea's for tipping over. I put him on the glass, he falls down. I put him on a rock, he falls down. I place him in the sand, *&^%#@$ crab eats it. John says they are good for cleaning hard to get places, something about their shell shape means they can clean up on the power head. Mine die to quick for me to have any first hand knowledge.

I just got my order from reefcleaners and would recommend them to anyone... Took only a day to ship. I just put them all in the tank, over 3/4 of them are already moving around and chomping down on the algae.

HAHA chiton pimping.. good call.



that is very good news! I'm excited for them to help me out with a custom CUC!