Ideas for decorative/CUC (crabs shrimp urchins)

[Clownfish king]

Hello I was wondering if anyone here would have good ideas for a LPS/softie mixed 10 gallon my stocking is a clown pair (ocellarus) and corals I do 10% weekly and 20% monthly I’m just wondering if I could get a few decorative shrimp or crabs maybe an urchin? Though it would have to have easy food requirements (mysis/brine shrimp is what I’m feeding)

[Clownfish king]

Oh btw has to be beginner friendly and under the 65$ mark

[Xj reefing]

Depending on where you live a redline cleaner shrimp could be an option. In America they are very cheap but in Australia they are over $100. You could also add a peppermint shrimp or some sexy shrimp. As for crabs if you ever get a anemone you can have a porcelain crab but if you don’t maybe a emerald crab could be ok just make sure to feed it well.

[farkwar]

Urchins will eat all your coralline

 

Chitons too

 

Urchins will eat through electrical cables in the tank, so wrap your cords or use MP powerheads

 

Limpets are about the only kind I have that are not ugly

[Tired]

Make sure you're feeding mysis, not brine. They aren't the same thing, and brine isn't very nutritious. 

 

Most urchins are a bit large for a 10gal. Look at shrimp and small crabs. Look around the forums at what people are keeping in their tanks, there are loads of options. Another thing you can do is check what's available for sale around you, look for anything you think is cool, and then research its requirements. 

 

Don't get sally lightfoot crabs or regular coral banded shrimp, both are very iffy with small fish. Yellow or blue coral banded shrimp are smaller and may work okay. 

 

Cleaner shrimp in general will fight each other in small tanks. One should be fine, multiple might have problems. 

 

For cleanup crew, look at what ReefCleaners recommends. They have good suggestions. Don't get any cleanup crew until you have lots of algae, or it'll starve. 

 

Don't order anything online until at least January, unless it's by overnight shipping. Anything slower than overnight shipping can't be trusted to arrive on time in December, which is bad with livestock. 

[Clownfish king]

Oh I know I’m planning to get these for my self in January as a b day present

[Clownfish king]

Ok so what I was thinking was I’m going to get 3 Brocken back shrimp (or sexy shrimp) and 1 peppermint shrimp. For crabs I want to get a couple designer hermits

[Tired]

I've never heard of a designer hermit. Do you have any links? 

 

Cool fact: hermit "crabs" are't actually crabs. They're crustaceans, but are in a different group.

 

Peppermint shrimp are iffy at best in reefs. They sometimes eat coral polyps. Sexy shrimp can be damaging to zoanthids, but feeding them daily can help to counteract that. 

[Clownfish king]

I mean like scarlet and zebra hermits

 

[Clownfish king]

Would bumble bee shrimp be an ok shrimp instead of a peppermint

[Clownfish king]

Would a bumble bee shrimp bee good

 

[Tired]

Scarlet hermits are picky about shells (look them up online to see the shape they like), but are very docile hermits, great for aquariums. Don't mix them with other hermits, they'll get bullied.

 

Bumblebee shrimp are good, but very small. They should be fed meaty foods frequently, preferably daily along with your fish. They can't be kept with most starfish and sea urchins, they eat the tube feet of echinoderms like those. Your tank is too small for starfish other than asterinas anyway, and brittle stars (which can work in smaller tanks) don't have tube feet.

 

Porcelain crabs are good. Anemone porcelain crabs anecdotally need an anemone host to do well (a rock flower anemone works fine) but the blue and green porcelains don't need an anemone. They should be given a piece of meaty food, by tongs or pipette, every few days at least. They'll filter-feed the water, but shouldn't be expected to live off that in small tanks. You can keep green porcelain crabs in small groups. 

 

Also, check your water parameters. If your nutrients go below 5-10 nitrates and 0.05 phosphates, it can seriously harm your corals. 

[Clownfish king]

Funnily my nitrates are at exactly 5 and my phosphate is 0.06

[Tired]

Those are good starter levels. Many corals like higher nitrates, so it may be worth lowering your water changes a little, to get your nitrates at more like 10-15, and seeing how everything responds. That will also help your rocks develop a good level of maturity and algae growth. 

[Xj reefing]

My nitrates at the end of the week before water change day are at 20

[Tired]

Try doing a slightly smaller water change, then, or waiting a few more days. 20 isn't bad at all. Some corals love it. 

 

How much are you feeding? A good way to feed your fish is to turn the pumps down or off and give them a small amount of food directly, where they can easily get it. Most small fish should really be fed daily at least, unless you have a lot of pods for them to snack on.