6 gallon CUC?

[intr3p1d]

Need help picking out the clean up crew for my 6 gallon. Totally new to the hobby, so I'm pretty clueless. I've already decided on no hermit crabs ? and I really like trochus and nassarius snails, they seem to be the most reliable. My sand bed, if it matters, is 2 inches all around and I have ~ 6 pounds of cured live rock from my LFS.

[charnelhouse]

I have 4 cerith snails and 2 bumblebee snail with and emerald crab, a scarlet reef hermit and a dwarf red tip hermit.

 

I've been seriously considering getting rid of the scarlet because of it's size in this small a tank. I'm not sure how big trochus and nassarius snails get, but my suggestion is go with CUC that stays small, otherwise they have the potential to become a nuisance.

 

All that said, they all do a spectacular job of keeping my tank clean.

 

[intr3p1d]

I do like bumblebee snails:D

If I do get a hermit crab it'll definitely be of the dwarf variety. Do any members of your cuc pick on your corals or fish? And also how did you choose to acclimate them?

[charnelhouse]

The only one that causes any grief is the scarlet hermit. It crawls over the corals a lot and it's size is the only real problem. It doesn't do any real damage though, just makes them mad for a while.

 

For the CUC the only acclimation I did was 15 minutes of temp adjustment, bag in tank. Then I just dropped them in. The corals all got drip acclimated for about an hour.

[cju84]

Just got to Reefcleaners.org and John will hook you up. Just select the 5 gallon option as you'll get MUCH more than necessary.

[CronicReefer]

Just got to Reefcleaners.org and John will hook you up. Just select the 5 gallon option as you'll get MUCH more than necessary.

Expect like 50 snails and 50 hermits lol

[cindyp]

i had a three gallon pico and now an 8 gallon.

 

stay away from hermit crabs. our tanks are too small

for their aggressiveness. i have ceriths, go for the smaller

ones as the larger can knock stuff over. i have one of those

pointy cone shells, it's okay. and i got two margairtas which

didn't seem to do much.

 

so i'd recommend smaller sized ceriths. i have one as

small as my pinky nail in there.

 

 

The only one that causes any grief is the scarlet hermit. It crawls over the corals a lot and it's size is the only real problem. It doesn't do any real damage though, just makes them mad for a while.

 

For the CUC the only acclimation I did was 15 minutes of temp adjustment, bag in tank. Then I just dropped them in. The corals all got drip acclimated for about an hour.

 

 

 

i do no acclimation whatsoever. it's amazing anything is alive

in my tank. hahaha! (i do acclimate fish and shrimp. but shells

and corals? in they go!)

[cju84]

Expect like 50 snails and 50 hermits lol

 

Hahah, 50 dwarf ceriths AT LEAST, a few nerites, no hermits though unless specified (at least what I got). Probably enough CUC for a 20g lol.

[CronicReefer]

i do no acclimation whatsoever. it's amazing anything is alive

in my tank. hahaha! (i do acclimate fish and shrimp. but shells

and corals? in they go!)

I do the same with my corals. If I understand correctly corals control the water flow into themselves so they basically "acclimate" themselves to new water surroundings. Never had a problem doing this.

[cindyp]

I do the same with my corals. If I understand correctly corals control the water flow into themselves so they basically "acclimate" themselves to new water surroundings. Never had a problem doing this.

 

me either! but i also found out recently my tank has

been at about 72 degrees all this time. i'm too scared

to put this on my main thread. HAHA

 

it's a long story, but now i've got a thermometer and

heater, and i've got it steady at 76. i might increase

it to 78 soon. but slow, as i think the corals were getting

used to frigid conditions.

[CronicReefer]

me either! but i also found out recently my tank has

been at about 72 degrees all this time. i'm too scared

to put this on my main thread. HAHA

 

it's a long story, but now i've got a thermometer and

heater, and i've got it steady at 76. i might increase

it to 78 soon. but slow, as i think the corals were getting

used to frigid conditions.

72 is like winter time water temp lol or deeper water reef conditions. I just keep my house at 77-78 degrees and found that I don't need a heater. My water stays at exactly 78 degrees.

[cindyp]

72 is like winter time water temp lol or deeper water reef conditions. I just keep my house at 77-78 degrees and found that I don't need a heater. My water stays at exactly 78 degrees.

 

i'm in SD, so we don't have the heater on yet.

and when i started the new 8g, we were going

through 100 degrees heat wave. so the temps weren't

an issue. but whoops! though honestly, the LCS said

that it meant my fishies metabolism slowed in this cooler

temps. and they aren't eating well, so.

[acrab78]

Acrab says crabs rule....

 

Get a few small ones....

[CronicReefer]

i'm in SD, so we don't have the heater on yet.

and when i started the new 8g, we were going

through 100 degrees heat wave. so the temps weren't

an issue. but whoops! though honestly, the LCS said

that it meant my fishies metabolism slowed in this cooler

temps. and they aren't eating well, so.

They just don't need to eat as much is all. Once the water stays warm again they will eat more.

[intr3p1d]

Hey guys, much thanks for all the response and help you guys put out here (:

I just put up a video of the tank, it can be found

[cindyp]

great video! total geek out on the nano tank!

 

have you decided on the cuc yet?

[intr3p1d]

great video! total geek out on the nano tank!

 

have you decided on the cuc yet?

 

I think so! A skunk cleaner shrimp (I hear fire shrimp are just too rough for nano-sized fish and can stress them out) , maybe a peppermint shrimp later on, a trochus snail and a small cerith to start.

Im considering modding a fluval HOB into a macroalgae refugium that I would use to clean my tank naturally and feed a court jester goby (one of my absolute favorite fish)