birch Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 I have a 12 gallon eclipse with one clown and one orange spotted goby. It has been running for 6 months and the water parameters are good. The cleanup crew consists of: 2 astrea snails 1 bumblebee snail 2 small blue leg hermits 1 fire shrimp. Is this a sufficient clean up crew, and if not, what are some other cool critters I could add that would be beneficial? Thanks. Link to comment
diggman08 Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 1 mexican turbo snail, 1 small sand sifting star, 1 scarlet hermit, personally i like margarita snails.. Link to comment
allenspidey Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 1 mexican turbo snail, 1 small sand sifting star, 1 scarlet hermit, personally i like margarita snails.. Sand sifting stars probably shouldn't be in a nano. Most will starve in a short amount of time. As for the original question, if your tank appears clean then what you have is sufficient. If I start to notice some algae or dirty sand, I'll add a snail or crab. Emerald crabs are nice too. Link to comment
diggman08 Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 my apologies i failed to recognize that fact that it was only a 12gal... i have 29bc and have had the same Sand sifting star in for about 8 months now... x2 on the emerald crab. Link to comment
eklikewhoa Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 I would ditch the crabs..... add a few cerith, nerites, nassarius and you should be set....check out reefcleaners.org. Also to add you could find some chestnut turbos, and DIBS stock. Link to comment
birch Posted May 20, 2008 Author Share Posted May 20, 2008 Emerald crabs are cool. Would it cause any trouble in my small tank? Link to comment
aquascaper08 Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 If the tank is staying clean and the water is good so are your choices. That is the cool thing about our hobby, you get to expirement with you own ocean. As long as you take is slow and watch it close, do what you think is cool. You sound like you know what is up!!! How about a pic? Link to comment
birch Posted May 21, 2008 Author Share Posted May 21, 2008 I have just heard that the emerald crabs can be a bit aggressive if there is not enough to eat. Has anyone here ever had an experience like this? Thanks for the tips everyone...I will get a pick up soon. Link to comment
SaltWaterNewb Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 I think that bubble bee snails are not algae eaters or at least poor ones and prefer meaty foods and may harm some soft corals. Not 100% on that so you may want to check. They are sweet looking though. Link to comment
Carlo Gambino Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 +1 on adding some nassarius. 2 or 3 for your size tank. They help keep the sandbed clean. Link to comment
eklikewhoa Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 I have not read much positive things about bumble bee snails.....and all crabs are opportunist. Link to comment
diggman08 Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 i would say probably 1/20 emerald crabs will actually cause a problem... Link to comment
allenspidey Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 I have 2 emeralds in my tank now. One is HUGE and the only problem he causes is knocking over frags. He does a nice job of cleaning the rock work and has kept my red bubble algae problem in check. Link to comment
birch Posted May 23, 2008 Author Share Posted May 23, 2008 I picked up 2 nassarius snails last night from my LFS and they are getting to work on my sandbed. I will watch the bumblebee and make sure it is not causing any damage. No emerald crab for now. Thanks for the advise everyone. Link to comment
Elite Twit Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Bumble Bee snails are not to be considered part of a clean up crew. They DO NOT eat problematic algae. They are nocturnal and eat mostly the microfauna living in and among the rocks and sand. They are nice to get a glimpse every now and then of the shell, but it's not good to add them to the total you are looking for as far as CUC members. Link to comment
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