Can't decide on a cleam up crew

[NeonZoie]

So as my tank nears its cycling completion im having to give more thought to my clean up crew. I have a 16 gallon aqua japan tank that i plan to have a pair of clowns in but as far as inverts go im at a loss. I was thinking maybe 3-4 trochus snails and some sort of shrimp. Fire reds are definitely my favorites but i know i wont see them often. I also want somethinf that will stip up the sand bed but my lfs advised againts things like nassarius snails incase one dies under the sand and because like a nutrient bomb. Im not a super big fan of trochus snails what are some othee good ones?

[specore]

3 minutes ago, NeonZoie said:

So as my tank nears its cycling completion im having to give more thought to my clean up crew. I have a 16 gallon aqua japan tank that i plan to have a pair of clowns in but as far as inverts go im at a loss. I was thinking maybe 3-4 trochus snails and some sort of shrimp. Fire reds are definitely my favorites but i know i wont see them often. I also want somethinf that will stip up the sand bed but my lfs advised againts things like nassarius snails incase one dies under the sand and because like a nutrient bomb. Im not a super big fan of trochus snails what are some othee good ones?

Margarita snails are great, however they do better with temps on the cooler side.  Maybe 75-76.  I've never been terribly impressed with nassarius snails anyway, but I don't see why one dying would be any different than any other snail dying.  

[NeonZoie]

2 hours ago, specore said:

Margarita snails are great, however they do better with temps on the cooler side.  Maybe 75-76.  I've never been terribly impressed with nassarius snails anyway, but I don't see why one dying would be any different than any other snail dying.  

Her reasoning was that if it dies and its under the sand and i csnt find it then it could be a problem. And i like magarita snails but i live in arizona and i have a hard time keeping the tank below 80

[specore]

2 minutes ago, NeonZoie said:

Her reasoning was that if it dies and its under the sand and i csnt find it then it could be a problem. And i like magarita snails but i live in arizona and i have a hard time keeping the tank below 80

Still.  I've lost 100's of snails and have never removed one from the tank.  Just find an empty shell.  

[NeonZoie]

Ive experienced that in freshwater but i suppose it would be the same as salt. What about cerith snails? I hear them popping up all the time in cuc conversations but what do they do? I mainly want a snail that will help keep the sand bed turned over and not so much algae control. Then again with how new my tank is i dont know if im gonna have that problem yet. Im only two weeks in and my nitrates are high and ammonia and nitrite are at 0 even when i add ammonia to 2ppm its gone the next day. 

[NeonZoie]

Oh also im interested in getting a pom pom crab have you ever had any experience with them?

[mndfreeze]

A lot of stuff you are talking about is not a part of the clean up crew.  Fire shrimp are ornamental, as are pom pom crabs.  They might eat left overs but are not effective enough to be considered CUC.

 

CUC is your basic snails and hermits, cucumbers and in very specific cases some starfish (bad for nanos, and even most large tanks)

 

I always try to have as biodiverse of a tank as possible.  You need to start slow and not go overboard buying too many snails and hermits at once or they will starve as your tank goes through its post cycle uglies of algae and cyano blooms.  The more different species of snails and hermits you have, the more variation of food sources they prefer and the more things get eaten.  Some snails prefer certain types of algae more than others for example.  Some might eat cyano, but not PREFER it, meaning it gets avoided unless there isn't much else.

 

I personally LOVE trochus snails.  They get big enough to have an impact on algae, can flip themselves back over, have cool looking tentacles that stick out of their sides, and breed well in tanks.   I also have 3 species of cerith in my tank.  I have the florida ceriths (long grey shells) that are large.  They LOVE the sand bed, dig into it, eat gunk out of it, etc.  They do go on the glass and rocks but not as much as the sand.  I have the mexican stocky ceriths, the blackish colored ones.  They LOVE the glass and rocks and almost never go into the sand.  I have dwarf ceriths.  They never go into the sand really but are tiny and get into nooks and crannies the others do not.

 

I have a few nassarius snails.  They are good to have.  They not only stir the top layer of your sand a little when they bury, and are cool to watch burst out for food, but they eat meaty stuff. So when you feed your fish they will help eat whats left over that algae eating snails will not.   If one was to die in your sand bed, the OTHERs would eat it.  It's also a great indicator when something died.

 

I have a few tiny common marginella snails.  These are more ornamental and there are a lot of bad species, so I wouldn't get these until you know exactly which you are buying and what they eat.

 

I have a few stomatella.  My absolute FAVORITE snail.  They look more like a slug with their tiny half shells, but they are super durable, breed REALLY well in tanks and get into tiny itty bitty nooks and crannies others do not and cannot get to.  The downside is no one actually sells these guys.  You'll need to get them as hitchikers or from local reefers.  

 

Beyond that, you want to seed your tank with other beneficial detrivores like copepods, amphipods, bristleworms, micro brittle stars, etc.   You can buy some of this stuff from ispf, but it is expensive, or meet up with some local reefers and have them give you a few.  Most people will look at you crazy if you ask for bristleworms, but they are the earthworms of the reef.  They are excellent detrivores and vital to reef health.

 

 

 

[banasophia]

1 hour ago, mndfreeze said:

Most people will look at you crazy if you ask for bristleworms, but they are the earthworms of the reef.  They are excellent detrivores and vital to reef health.

 

 

 

@mndfreeze your whole post was very nicely written, but I especially wanted to say thank you for the way you described bristleworms; it totally reframed them for me.  “Earthworms of the reef” gave me a whole new perspective... before all I could think of were centipedes. 

[NeonZoie]

Thank you! I definitely think i want trochus and nassarius. Ive always been under the impression that bristleworms weren't good for tanks? 

[HarryPotter]

11 minutes ago, NeonZoie said:

Thank you! I definitely think i want trochus and nassarius. Ive always been under the impression that bristleworms weren't good for tanks? 

 

Fine for tanks, terrible for your fingers. I would avoid them if possible.

 

I have tons of micro brittle stars- it’s awesome. Hundreds of little arms stick out of my rock whenever I broadcast feed 🙂 

[Aurortpa]

+1 for stomatellas if you can find them.  I have some nassarius snails, they are fine and actually long lived. If one dies, I assure you the others will find it.

 

Ninja star snails are kewl too, they get in the little crevices to clean them out.

 

I just have two zebra turbos but mind you, they eat a lot and can get bigger.

 

I actually have a serpent banded seastar, for almost 3 year, great cleaner for the bottom and caves.

 

Later on when your tank is stable, definitely consider a shrimp. They are always on top of any leftover food. 

 

 

[NeonZoie]

Brittle stars creep me out a little but haha but since i started with dry rock and dip any corals that come into my tank i dont think ill be introducing any bristleworms to my tank, also not sure how to go about asking for them either haha

Im not in any rush to get my cuc all together just yet, but i am planning on getting my clowns next week. Once they've been there for a month or so i imagine ill start getting some sort of algae or otherfood source to support a cuc.

[BlennyBoi]

i use dwarf yellow tip hermits and trochus snails in my 30g reef. dont get the hermits if you also plan to have smaller snail species, i speak from experience.