Opinions on Clean Up Crew Packages

[markpg]

I've got a 30 gal cube that is just about fully cycled and I'm looking into ordering a clean up crew package. Does anyone have any opinions on the various packages offered? I'm leaning toward the smallest package offered by Dr. Mac

 

http://www.drmaccorals.com/sys-tmpl/invertpackages/

 

(I got my rock from there -- great stuff, and very nice people to deal with).

 

Does anyone have any other recommendations?

[SeaSide]

Package 1, $89, full cost delivered to your door.

30 Astrea Snails

20 Sm. Nassarius Snails

1 Sea Cucumber

1 Queen Conch

1 Peppermint Shrimp

2 Scarlet Hermit Crabs

 

Is this the package you talking about?

 

Well... I am not sure whether you need that much or not.

If your tank is pretty clean w/o a lot of algae, you may not need that much.

People said the rule of thumb is 1 snail per 1 gallon of water and 1 hermit per 2 gallons. It is not clear what kind of snail they talking about... but I think it is total # of snails, not # of every each kind of snails.

so... you may need total of 30 snails according to rule of thumb.

Queen conch seems to get bigger pretty soon. Sea cucmber is cool animal but not sure it is absoultely needed or not.

 

If I were you, I would forget about unusual crew like sea cucumber and conch. I may consider 5 to 10 of 3 different kind of snails, 5 to 10 hermits, 2 or 3 peps and 1 or 2 cleaner shrimp.

But again, This is just my thought and I haven't seen your tank. Your decision may vary according to your tank condition. Others will tell you different opinions for you. Gather infomation and make wise decision. HTH.

[markpg]

Yeah that's the one.

 

It did seem a bit heavy on the snails and light on the hermits. Perhaps if I ask them to swap some of the snails for more hermits it might be a bit better balanced?

 

Thanks for the comments.

[ReeferMonkey]

Here's what I have in my 7:

 

2 blue leg hermits

1 "algae" hermit

2 star snails (astraea)

3 margarita snails (nerites) + babies

3 hitchhiker stomatella snails + babies

5 nassarius snails

1 Lettuce Nudi

1 Porcelain Crab

 

All I really nead at this point, IMO, is an emerald crab to eat valonia.

 

I think that the success of my clean up crew is due to the variety. Keeping it balanced will ensure that, whatever kind of funk you have in your tank, it will get eaten by someone.