what to replace my clean up crew with

[pairenoid]

20gl, about 2 months cycled
1 clown fish
1 tiger pistol shrimp
5 blue leg hermits
5 snails, not sure which, but i think some of them are the nerite ones
1 of them is dead, for sure, empty shell
another one i think i accidently killed he was stuck to my powerhead and i softly removed him but when he landed upside down on the water he hasnt moved since

i want something that cleans the sandbed, my tank walls are spotless maybe its because the snails did a good job or maybe cuz i had no algae, but i rarely saw any of my snails moving. They like to just cling to the same spot on the wall for days. Im looking to replace with stuff that will clean my sandbed, as it gets dirty. Would a peppermint shrimp clean sand?
my biggest concern is cleaning my sand, second is cleaning up food that no one else eats

my hermits do great work, but they dont do much for my sand. Any recommendations on what to get to replace my 2 snails?

 

[Beengirl]

A conch will clean your sand. They ONLY clean sand, will not go on glass or rocks. But they're great cleaners. You would only need 1.

 

[pairenoid]

sweet thanks, maybe ill get 2

turns out that other snail wasnt dead he just had to be flipped over XD
any site u recommend? im thinking live aquaria to buy a snail and yellow goby but it requires me to have 29+ dollars in the shipping for some reason

 

[Beengirl]

sweet thanks, maybe ill get 2

turns out that other snail wasnt dead he just had to be flipped over XD
any site u recommend? im thinking live aquaria to buy a snail and yellow goby but it requires me to have 29+ dollars in the shipping for some reason

You really only need 1 conch. They aren't nearly as slow as snails and are much bigger, so eat more. If you get 2 for a 20g, they might starve. One will do the job nicely- trust me.

 

[pairenoid]

so i got a conch today, was surprised at how big some were at the store, but i ****ed up major and im worried now

as i was hanging my bag to get it ready to acclimate, i poured in a very small cup of my tank water,i turn around for 1 second turn back and the entire bag is submerged

so i stupidly drain half of it without thinking back into my tank and realize what i have done, its just sitting there still acclimating but is this really bad for its health? its so stressful knowing even if they are fine now they can die in a week with poor acclimation, this is so stressful

edit: i dropped him in and honestly he seems fine, he instantly went for my live rock and now hes eating lol, but im still worried a bit

 

[Beengirl]

so i got a conch today, was surprised at how big some were at the store, but i ****ed up major and im worried now

as i was hanging my bag to get it ready to acclimate, i poured in a very small cup of my tank water,i turn around for 1 second turn back and the entire bag is submerged

so i stupidly drain half of it without thinking back into my tank and realize what i have done, its just sitting there still acclimating but is this really bad for its health? its so stressful knowing even if they are fine now they can die in a week with poor acclimation, this is so stressful

edit: i dropped him in and honestly he seems fine, he instantly went for my live rock and now hes eating lol, but im still worried a bit

There's no point in stressing too much about it now. He's in there now. Just keep an eye on him. Conchs (and snails in general) are pretty hardy. If he's cruising around and eating, I'm sure he's fine. Congrats on the new conch BTW!!! Pics!!

 

[pairenoid]

heh ya i luv my conch he moves so weird, ill take a pic if i can find him today. And ya they move incredibly fast for a snail, one moment hes at the top of my rocks then hes on my glass window

i dont know where he went but my guess is behind the rocks or under the sand, cant find my goby either :'(

i want to take a pic of everything i have but they always hide lol, wish i cud just ring a bell for them to line up for a quick photo

 

[Beengirl]

Yeah, a lot off e hide too. I've kinda trained them that when the PHs go off, it's dinnertime. So when they go off, everyone pops out, even the pistol and goby usually come to the burrow opening and peek out. Kinda like Pavlov's dogs, but with PHs and fish. Lol.

 

[CraigRets]

Do you have a heater in your tank? and what are you feeding your snails?

 

[pairenoid]

my heater keeps my tank at 77, lowered from 80 a few weeks ago

i dont feed them anything

ill be feeding my conch some plant pellets though, not sure about the goby

i have pellets but i dont know how he will see them if hes hiding, and since hes hiding i cant spot feed him

i noticed my shrimp is where the goby was, but im hoping he didnt kill the goby. They certainly are not showing themselves lol

 

[Beengirl]

my heater keeps my tank at 77, lowered from 80 a few weeks ago

i dont feed them anything

ill be feeding my conch some plant pellets though, not sure about the goby

i have pellets but i dont know how he will see them if hes hiding, and since hes hiding i cant spot feed him

i noticed my shrimp is where the goby was, but im hoping he didnt kill the goby. They certainly are not showing themselves lol

If its a watchman goby, they're probably living together in the same burrow. I feed pellets periodically, so i just get a small cup of tank water, put the pellets on there and suck it up with the blaster and put it in the burrow. Just use a turkey Baster and put some food down into the burrow opening when you feed. The pistol and goby will share it. If they've paired, they'll be lifelong BFFs. Yea!!

 

[CraigRets]

Snails need more food then algea and left over fish food. They need veggies, try feeding them lettuce, I ripp mine up into smaller peices.

<-- My golden apple snails eating) They will also eat cooked carrots, zuccunni, cucumber. all peeled and cooked.

Snails can stay in their shells for a long time without moving or eating. Mine have stayed in their shells for up to 2 days and I have heard of people whos snails dont move for over a week.

 

[pairenoid]

ok thanks, ill resort to real green food if i feel hes starving

im also going to buy a turkey blaster, seems perfect for my situation, tired of not seeing my fish and shrimp eat lol. now i know why moms always get worried if their kids dont eat XD