good clean up crew?????

[whitetiprs]

What is a good amount of hermits and snails for a clean up crew???
I have a 46 gal with 60ish Lbs of LR. Plus I will be getting some seastars for FREE, don't know what kind though.

 

[michealprater]

check out the clean up crews at saltwaterfish.com, then take the quanties they give you and buy at west coast tropicals for cheaper.

 

[tripper]

I would also suggest cutting the quantities they suggest in half. It seems that they really overstock tanks with cleanup crews. If you have too many hermits and snails they could die of starvation after the initial big cleanup. I would suggest some Turbo and Nassarius snails as well as some hermits. HTH

tripper

 

[Fenix]

Also try to get more snails than crabs. Snails eat a lot more algeas than crabs do. And also make your crew as diverse as possible, like 3 turbos, 6 nassurus, 5 astras, ect. That way you will have all or most of the common algeas covered.

 

[michealprater]

And remember, a dead snail in your tank is much worse than a dead crab.

 

[djmpj2]

And remember, a dead snail in your tank is much worse than a dead crab.

Why? How do you know if they are dead We have thought ours were dead a few times. They might sit in one spot for over 24 hours.

I can't find West Coast Tropicals online... is it an online store?

DJ

 

[jenpc]

www.liveaquaria.com has clean up crew packages, but they do seem a bit high on the hermit crab numbers. I would worry about starvation. My tank 29g stays very clean with a fairly small cleaning crew, and everyone seems happy.

 

[grimlock3000]

Once a crabs flips over the snail and starts eating it, the snail is dead.

 

[michealprater]

Why? How do you know if they are dead We have thought ours were dead a few times. They might sit in one spot for over 24 hours.

I can't find West Coast Tropicals online... is it an online store?

Thats the problem I have with snails. Once they are dead, they need to be removed from the tank immediately. If you cannot tell when they are dead that makes it a bad thing. I always stuck with hermit crabs, in fact I did for 3 yrs. One day I decided I would order some snails to add to the tank. I dripped them in like I would do any fish for about 4 hrs. Then I threw them in the tank. Well overnight some of them died and spiked the ammonia in record time and floated every fish I had in the tank. Snails were the cause of my 150 gallon reef tank's crash. The corals were the only thing that survived So, needless to say, I have a little chip on my shoulder.

West coast is a sponsor of this forum. Just go to the top and click "view sponsors" , then click on thier banner.

 

[SeriousDude5]

www.liveaquaria.com has a good clean up crew with a wide verity to choose from.

 

[whitetiprs]

Thanks for your help i've already picked up some snails and hermits from my lfs but I plan on getting some more, maybe from liveaquaria.com

 

[michealprater]

The simple 50 would work great for you, and the price is hard to beat.

http://www.wctropicalmarine.com/reefpackages.html

 

[cmor1701d]

Wow, Michael. How many snails died and what size tank was that?

I have not had a problem with snails, just killer hermits...

 

[michealprater]

150 gallon. All of them died by time I got up that morning, I assume it was a chain reaction. It is hard to explain a entire tank crash. I felt sick.

 

[djmpj2]

Once they are dead, they need to be removed from the tank immediately. If you cannot tell when they are dead that makes it a bad thing.

That's exactly the hard part... since we are not 100% sure they are dead, my husband is sticking his hands in there and moving the snails around. The LFS guy said take them out and smell them. If they are dead, they will be smelly and soft.

If they get flipped on their backs, should we be flipping them over? I just think it is not good for my husband to be putting his hands in there so often If nothing else, it probably freaks out the clowns, right?

DJ

 

[cmor1701d]

I'm waiting to see which of my new snails survived. I drip acclimated for 3 hours yesterday. The snails seemed active last night except for the fighting conch. I'm hoping that they are ok when I get home. I did have one tiny cleaner shrimp show up dead.

 

[aquafreak]

I'm surprised at how many critters are needed for clean-up. Tomorrow, I am introducing some Sand Sifting Starfish and I will introduce a 'bunch' more snails. They say that Gobis are a good choice too (for sand).

 

[Brad]

A dead snail wouldn't last 3 minutes in my tank as it would be devoured by hermits, and every imaginable type of worm or crab.