2.5 question about an over active cleaner crew

[McHale1188]

I've recently established a new 2.5 gallon tank ... It's been running for about a month and a half. I have 26w lights on it and was trying to achieve a very natural look with mild algae and some small natural plants that came with the "cultured rock." the other day i added a small cleaner crew... I had never done a 2.5 and was unsure of the amount of critters to purchase. I got 4 blue legged hermits and two snails ... they have wiped out all plant life in my tank. I think that they are way over doing it for my tank ... any thoughts?

[nalbar]

i think you should be happy that;

 

1) you bought the right amount of creatures

 

2) they are hard workers

 

3) if this is the worst situation you face your a lucky person

 

 

 

nalbar

[McHale1188]

so you think that i should keep all the hermits?

[Hwarang]

well if they wiped out all the algae stuffs in 4 days i suspect one or two of them may die of starvation in the long run ...

[McHale1188]

that is what i think too

[SoBe]

I had 5 hermits eat all the macro(even the awsome kind that looks like tiny umbrellas) in my 5 gal overnight. They were well fed hermits too. Now their in my mantis tank.

[McHale1188]

any general advice for my 2.5... do's and dont's

[Hwarang]

be a topping-off nazi. get a routine. top it off every day before you go to work or whatever. even if it means only pouring like 1 ounce of fresh water in it. fluxy water is the hardest thing about a nano. maintaining a constant volume is a good way to help keep that to a minimum. well, it's a good start.

 

also don't overstock. that seems simple but it's so easy to do. find one tiny fish and put it in. then just have your invert cleanup crew. or whatever.