Quick CUC question

[Aquatic_Adam]

Hello all!

Been away from the forum but hopefully I can be back!

I have a 125g tank that's been up for awhile and I need some help finalizing my CUC. Currently I have 1 cleaner shrimp, 2 emerald crabs, 4 red leg hermits, and only 2 or 3 astrea. I know I need some more, especially in the snail department, but I cant find a good number of what and how many. Any advice would be great. I definitely want to get another cleaner shrimp, as their personality is really cool. Generally do people count cleaner shrimp as part of the CUC? Or is that mainly relegated for the snails/hermits?

Bonus question. I have a 40g sump with a refugium. I was wondering how much chaeto i should start off with. my small amount definitely hasn't taken off. I also read somewhere that its very beneficial to keep a sea cucumber in the refugium...is this true? If so...why?

Thanks everyone!

 

[Sniperhank]

This is a hard thing to judge...especially since if you are very good at keeping the tank clean there isn't need for a clean up crew to begin with.
In the past, I know the guy who runs reefcleaners is pretty good at estimating things for people...and always gives way more than one orders if you decide to use his services.
Cleaner shrimp aren't really a good 'cuc' member. They won't go after the gunk build up like a snail or crab will. I avoid shrimp personally.
As for how much algae in your refugium, how much can you get for free? Just giving a small amount will turn into a large amount that you'll want to give away as you trim stuff up.
As for a sea cucumber, I have no clue why anyone would want to do this. These guys can be poisonous and would never personally want one in one of my systems.