Cheap cuc

[Reefer-begginer]

does anyone know of a site that sells cheap CuCs? ( snails, hermits, starfish etc ) it appears that the cuc i had in my 36g had all disappeared and is in need of some new cuc.

Any suggestions on what cuc to add to the tank as well is helpful

[Tired]

ReefCleaners is really good. Look at their recommendations for different-sized tanks, they're good at that. Expect more snails than you ordered. I'd get some ceriths and a couple trochus. Maybe toss in a ninja star snail, nerite, and/or a limpet if you like those, depending on how many other snails you order. If you have a tight-fitting lid, get 5 or 10 of the periwinkles! They're pretty and cheap, and I like mine. They will try to climb out, though. 

Personally, I like a mix of snails. If I were getting cleaners for a tank that size, I'd get one each of most of the snails (though not the bigger turbos, or the bumblebees), and fill in the numbers with ceriths. They're a good multi-purpose snail- they eat algae and detritus, and burrow in the sand to stir it up. 

Hermit crabs aren't the best cleaners. If you just want them for fun, get scarlet hermits, they're the most well-behaved. Make sure to order shells for them, too.

 

Don't get starfish as cleaners. Sand-sifters need a really big tank to get enough food, and large brittle stars are a fun animal, not a cleaning animal. Micro brittle stars are great cleaners, but you won't find them for sale. I think ReefCleaners has a nice smallish brittle star for sale, if you don't mind paying for faster shipping.

[Reefer-begginer]

2 hours ago, Tired said:

ReefCleaners is really good. Look at their recommendations for different-sized tanks, they're good at that. Expect more snails than you ordered. I'd get some ceriths and a couple trochus. Maybe toss in a ninja star snail, nerite, and/or a limpet if you like those, depending on how many other snails you order. If you have a tight-fitting lid, get 5 or 10 of the periwinkles! They're pretty and cheap, and I like mine. They will try to climb out, though. 

Personally, I like a mix of snails. If I were getting cleaners for a tank that size, I'd get one each of most of the snails (though not the bigger turbos, or the bumblebees), and fill in the numbers with ceriths. They're a good multi-purpose snail- they eat algae and detritus, and burrow in the sand to stir it up. 

Hermit crabs aren't the best cleaners. If you just want them for fun, get scarlet hermits, they're the most well-behaved. Make sure to order shells for them, too.

 

Don't get starfish as cleaners. Sand-sifters need a really big tank to get enough food, and large brittle stars are a fun animal, not a cleaning animal. Micro brittle stars are great cleaners, but you won't find them for sale. I think ReefCleaners has a nice smallish brittle star for sale, if you don't mind paying for faster shipping.

With my 125g tank, since I'm doing angels and butterflys with tangs and rabbit fish what would you put with them? I'd think small inverts like blue legged hermits and cerith snails would get eaten if I'm not mistaken 

[Tired]

I'm reasonably certain those are all fish that pick at algae and loose inverts, I don't think any of them eat snails. Snails are actually pretty hard to eat. Puffers will eat them, but only because they can crunch through the shells, or suck them out. I think triggers will eat them, too? But as far as I know, most other fish don't. The same principle applies to hermits, that's why they live in snail shells. 

[Thrassian Atoll]

Reef cleaners is very good and cheap, but I couldn’t stand the tiny ceriths everywhere.   On the flip side, liveaquaria is good but expensive.  They usually have a good assortment though.

[Tired]

Liveaquaria wants $6 for a trochus snail, and from what I hear their shipments and general customer service are going downhill. 

 

Live-plants.com sells cleaners. So does AlgaeBarn, and probably a few other places. All of 'em are probably cheaper than LiveAquaria.

 

And yeah, that's the only downside to RC.. If you order dwarf ceriths, you'll get lots of 'em. If you don't want lots of dwarf ceriths, you can just not order any. If you order any dwarf ceriths, you will probably get a lot. 

(seriously, this is what I got when I ordered about half a dozen. A few adults, a pinch of shell rubble, and a million tiny babies.)

[Reefer-begginer]

30 minutes ago, Tired said:

Liveaquaria wants $6 for a trochus snail, and from what I hear their shipments and general customer service are going downhill. 

 

Live-plants.com sells cleaners. So does AlgaeBarn, and probably a few other places. All of 'em are probably cheaper than LiveAquaria.

 

And yeah, that's the only downside to RC.. If you order dwarf ceriths, you'll get lots of 'em. If you don't want lots of dwarf ceriths, you can just not order any. If you order any dwarf ceriths, you will probably get a lot. 

(seriously, this is what I got when I ordered about half a dozen. A few adults, a pinch of shell rubble, and a million tiny babies.)

Wanna send me some xD

[Reefer-begginer]

Also the main issue is that I'm starting to get more cuc for both my tanks, the 36g bowfront probably lost about half of its cuc this month ( had them since day 1 so 9 months of them being alive isn't to bad ) but my 125 just has shrimps and 3-5 snails atm 

[Break]

Reef Cleaners would be my recommendation - the price for CUC just about everywhere else is absurd. I don't mind paying LiveAquaria prices for fish though as my experience has always been good.

 

If you don't want dwarf ceriths everywhere just go with the larger florida cerith option they have. You'll probably be fine with a mix of trochus, cerith, and nerite.

[Tired]

I like the snail approach of a reasonable number of the classics (trochus, ceriths, nerites), and then one or two of a bunch of other species, just for some variety. It's a fun alternative to just having one or two species. I don't know that it's all that more useful than just having the classics, but I like to occasionally see the other kinds. And a little extra variety might help cover things the classics don't. 

 

[mndfreeze]

I also always mix up my CUC as much as possible.  I have trochus, astrea, florida ceriths that bury in the sand, the normal ceriths, and some stomatellas.  If it wasn't so hot in AZ right now I'd prob order some dwarf ceriths.