Mondo Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 My tank should be done cycling in a week or two and I'll need to add a clean up crew. Can someone suggest what to get and where to buy? Perferably a "package" deal <=$50US. I have 1.5-2" of live and and 35lbs of live rock. Also 65W 10,000K and 65W acintic. Link to comment
Caesar Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 get 20 Nassarius snails 20 blue leg hermits and 20 turbo snails is a great clean up crew I have a 20L and my sand is spot-less Link to comment
dickwayne Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 I have 4 hermits and 5 snails in my 20g. They're not too bad, lazy sometimes. But I think 20 hermits and 40 snails is way too many. I wouldn't put many more than 10 snails. Link to comment
~_~ Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 Get some Astrae snails, around 3-4 or so. (best all around snails imo & good for diatoms in new tanks) Maybe 2 Nassarius snails (these are meat eaters so they won't touch algae) Around 3 Ceriths (good for detritus) Maybe a few Stomatella snails to. I don't use any crabs in my tank since I don't want to deal with getting them new shells and maybe having them kill some snails and nip my corals. I would stay away from margarita snails, as there bums. Turbo snails are too big. btw, I have a 20g High to, and my cleanup crew is, 5 astrae snails 3 peppermint snails (more for looks than anything since there about the size of a grain of rice at the biggest) 3 Stomatella snails 5 ceriths (2 came with live sand) 3 Nassarius snails 0 crabs I used to have 2 margarita snails in there, but one died mysteriously and I took the other one out as it was dying to probably. (no idea why, they were always lethargic) I also used to have a Trochus snail that I got from inlandaquatics (where I ordered the pep and stom snails), but the one they sent me was as big as a turbo, so I gave him to someone else. I would say maybe order them at marinedepotlive.com, but there shipping is kinda expensive at $30 flat fee plus 10% of the order amount... Link to comment
gullmo Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 <$50, I have package #2 in my 20H, no sign of algae anywhere http://www.justphish.com/saltwater/current...tockcleanup.htm Link to comment
Mondo Posted April 10, 2003 Author Share Posted April 10, 2003 Thanks guys. I had seen that package before at justphish and was thinking that it looked like the best deal around. I'll probably end up going with it. Which star/crab option did you choose? Link to comment
~_~ Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 Justphish package is one of the worst available... Link to comment
Mondo Posted April 11, 2003 Author Share Posted April 11, 2003 Would you mind explaining? Link to comment
~_~ Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 It's just too much stuff for a 20gh tank. Some of the guys will starve & die probably. Turbo snails are big giant golfball sized snails that can easily knock stuff over like bulldozers. It would also be better to have a more diverse snail population since they eat different types of foods/algaes. Brittle/serpent stars are ok depending on the size. They sift the sand, but they do this to look for infauna like pods to eat. *some* serpant stars & emerald crabs have been known to snack on corals. (behind your back ) Link to comment
JustPhish Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 If you look at the picture of the snails labled as turbo, you will see they are turbo/astrea. They are labled as turbo because that's what they are best known as. You are confusing them with mexican turbos which are not included in any packages. Their picture is also there. I have included a picture of each critter for the exact purpose of allowing the customer to see without question what it is. The white sand sifting stars are the stars that sift through the sand in search of infauna within the sand bed. They are the stars which decimate a healthy dsb. Brittle and serpents stars are not sand sifters. If anything they are sand stirrers, simply moving the sand around as they move to scavenge the left over foods from feeding your tank. If you have mostly rock work in your tank they would probably end up spending 99% of their time in there never even touching the sand. Green serpent stars are the only serpents I have ever seen or heard of as being questionable in a tank and that's only in tanks containing small fish. Emerald crabs? Well, anything is possible. I can say that I buy them in quantities ranging anywhere from 100-200 in one shot and in the past few years have had thousands of them pass through here and I can honestly say I have never once noticed anything going wrong at their claws. On that note, I can also say that I have had purple tangs, yellow tangs, and hippo tangs snack on my corals to the point of killing them. Those are all well known as supposedly reef safe. So like I said, anything can happen with anything you put in your tank. HTH Link to comment
jdiver Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 Originally posted by ~_~ Justphish package is one of the worst available... Frankly, that seems like a rather unfair and ignorant statement to make, especially when left without any explanation or research into what the JustPhish packages actually include. The packages from JustPhish, imo, seem to be far more realistic in terms of number of critters than other packages out there. (Consider Marine Depot has 7 scarlets and 36 blue legs in their 30 gallon package.) I do agree that a diversity in snails is a good option though. Link to comment
JustDavidP Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 I agree on keeping your snails to smaller sizes. They do act like bulldozers in a nano environment! Stars, serpent, brittle or otherwise will cause problems in a tank ONLY if they are starving. I have both a serpent and brittle in my 20. Both are well behaved because I spot feed them. If left to fend for themselves, they will find a way to survive. Wouldn't you? My yellow watchman goby did more damage to my sand fauna than does the rest of the tank inhabitants. BTW ... same holds true for any crabs, mithrax, hermits etc. Keep em fat and happy and they'll leave your treasures alone. David Link to comment
tinyreef Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 now i've never bought from justphish (i don't think so at least, can't remember) but i also think his packages do look very good. they include shipping for those prices! the turbo name is a little confusing/misleading but other than that the packages look perfectly sized to me. now i hesitate to criticize another ols that gives you more per package but overloading the system can be traumatic. sometimes it's better to go with 'just right' sizing so i understand where ~_~ is coming from and i agree with that perspective too but i don't think it applies to jp. Link to comment
jdiver Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 tinyreef- Admittedly the Turbo snails naming has confused me on occasion as well, but it seems to be very common. My LFS, which has a very knowledgeable manager, refers to Astreas as Turbos as well. The distinction is oviously Mexican Turbos that are the bulldozers, so I guess everything is bigger in Mexico. Or is it Texas? No matter. Link to comment
Goliath Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 I would get a cleanup crew from Jeff's Exotic Fish at www.exoticfish.com they have 10 gallon, 20 gallon etc cleanup crew packages for great deals. I would never put more then 2 TURBO snails into a 20 gallon tank. You have to realize that when most people talk about Turbo snails, they are reffering to this big huge snails not Astrea snails. Jeremy Link to comment
SeaMountain Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 JP did a fine job as far as I'm concerned. Of course my Clean Up Crew has only been in the water 3 hours! LOL So time will tell if they start buggerring things up, but I do like what I have... Packing was excellent. Health was excellent. They hit the sandbed RUNNING! Check out this thread on www.JustPhish.com and see a couple of pics of what I received and how I received them! http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...=&threadid=9738 Thanks JP! I did send you an email of appreciation as well! Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.