Cleaners for reef

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cgthebeast

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I`m starting a 25 gallon reef soon and I was wondering on cleaners for it. I`ve thought of herimt crabs but have heard horror stories about them killing smaller fish. Is there anything else that would make a good CUC. My planned stock list is

1x banded possum wrasse
1x yasha goby
1x firefish

1x Blood Red shrimp
3-6 Sexy shrimp
1x Randall pistol shrimp
1 porcelin crab
 
I've always had the blue and scarlet leg ones and the only problem they've caused is knocking frags over. You plan on getting snails, too, right? I'm also about to be stocking a tank close to that size and I think I have my mind set on a yasha goby/pistol combo. I saw one at premium aquatics the other day and can't get it out of my mind now. Also, I've never ordered from here, but ive heard really good things about them and the prices on their "quick crews" are awesome!

Cleaner Packages with Free Shipping
 
Hermit crabs can't kill healthy fish. They are very slow moving. They do kill snails however. I would skip the fire shrimp and get a pair of skunk cleaner shrimp. The reason is because the fire shrimp tend to hide a lot and the skunk cleaners are much more social. you may never see the fire shrimp. I do like the porcelain crabs and haven't seen any adverse behavior out of them. Never had experience with sexy shrimp.

Those "quick crews" on that site are way more than you need. Many of them will starve to death unless you actually add food to the tank just for them. If you are looking for something to help out with excess nutrients, this is not the way to go. 52 snails for a 25 gallon tank is ridiculous.
 
Yep, I was planning on a skunk cleaner shrimp until I saw a blood shrimp and loved there color. I am adding snail probably around 10-15 of them . I love the goby and shrimp pair, there relation ship is so cool.
 
What Mr. X said!

Here's my blurb on snails...

Astrea Snail-most common of all saltwater tank snails. They are excellent algae eaters and will forage all over the rock, sand, and glass. They fall very easily and can not right themselves up and then die unless you right them.

Banded Trochus Snail - Large snails that are excellent algae eaters although they are very slow about it. Have a hard time picking themselves up if stranded in the middle of the sand.

Bumblebee snails- Not very hardy. Marginal algae eaters, but more of a detritus grazer. They can prey on other snails and sand bed critters.

Cerith Snails (Cortez) - Good algae and detritus eaters that forage rock, glass, and sand. Some can pick themselves up and some cant.
Cerith Snails (White)- Good algae and detritus eaters that seem to stay in the sand more than the cortez, but can be found on the rock and glass. They are good sand bed snails to shift the substrate around.

Conch Snails - These are all about the sand bed and are very cool to watch. They usually don't get flipped over, but if they do, they can kick around and turn themselves back upright. They very hardy too.

Mexican Turbo Snails - super fast grazer that will knock out some algae in no time. They mostly stay on rocks and glass, but will work the top of the sandbed too. These may be cold water snails that dont do so well in a reef. But, once they are adjusted... they seem to be very hardy and active. Mine are going on two years and are huge now. I originally got them for a hair algae problem. They do tend to knock over anything that is not glued in place (corals, clams, rocks, etc.)

Nassarius Snails - They mostly stay in the sand, but will sometimes make short trips up the glass. They are mainly detritus eaters and do an excellent job cleaning and shifting the sand. I think these are also some of the most hardy snails out there. These guys can flip themselves upright very easily and quickly. They are fun to watch as they come bursting out of the sand bed at feeding time.

Nerite Snails - Nerites feed on filamentous and film-forming cyanobacteria, and filamentous green algae, but the main diet of most nerites is diatoms. These guys like to crawl out of the water some. These are great snails, but also have trouble turning themselves back over. Mine usually end up in the sump where they can get above the water line and come back down when they want to.

Stomatella Snails - They are supposed to reproduce very well. No personal experience w/ them.

Strombus Snails (Strombus maculatus) these are excellent snails that reproduce very well. They seem to be mostly sandbed snails and will occasionally make there way up to about the 1-3 inch line of rock work.


You may want to contact one of our sponsors about a clean up crew. I have personally worked with John Maloney of Reef Cleaners in the past. You may want to start a conversation with him about an appropriate clean up crew.

As Mr. X stated all packages are overkill. You really want to start with just a few critters and add more as you add more fish.
 
Yea those packages are overkill for the sizes they are stated for. I understand people like to follow directions, but just because they are labeled for a certain size doesn't mean you HAVE to order that one =P Just get a smaller one.
 
What Mr. X said!

Here's my blurb on snails...

Astrea Snail-most common of all saltwater tank snails. They are excellent algae eaters and will forage all over the rock, sand, and glass. They fall very easily and can not right themselves up and then die unless you right them.

Banded Trochus Snail - Large snails that are excellent algae eaters although they are very slow about it. Have a hard time picking themselves up if stranded in the middle of the sand.

Bumblebee snails- Not very hardy. Marginal algae eaters, but more of a detritus grazer. They can prey on other snails and sand bed critters.

Cerith Snails (Cortez) - Good algae and detritus eaters that forage rock, glass, and sand. Some can pick themselves up and some cant.
Cerith Snails (White)- Good algae and detritus eaters that seem to stay in the sand more than the cortez, but can be found on the rock and glass. They are good sand bed snails to shift the substrate around.

Conch Snails - These are all about the sand bed and are very cool to watch. They usually don't get flipped over, but if they do, they can kick around and turn themselves back upright. They very hardy too.

Mexican Turbo Snails - super fast grazer that will knock out some algae in no time. They mostly stay on rocks and glass, but will work the top of the sandbed too. These may be cold water snails that dont do so well in a reef. But, once they are adjusted... they seem to be very hardy and active. Mine are going on two years and are huge now. I originally got them for a hair algae problem. They do tend to knock over anything that is not glued in place (corals, clams, rocks, etc.)

Nassarius Snails - They mostly stay in the sand, but will sometimes make short trips up the glass. They are mainly detritus eaters and do an excellent job cleaning and shifting the sand. I think these are also some of the most hardy snails out there. These guys can flip themselves upright very easily and quickly. They are fun to watch as they come bursting out of the sand bed at feeding time.

Nerite Snails - Nerites feed on filamentous and film-forming cyanobacteria, and filamentous green algae, but the main diet of most nerites is diatoms. These guys like to crawl out of the water some. These are great snails, but also have trouble turning themselves back over. Mine usually end up in the sump where they can get above the water line and come back down when they want to.

Stomatella Snails - They are supposed to reproduce very well. No personal experience w/ them.

Strombus Snails (Strombus maculatus) these are excellent snails that reproduce very well. They seem to be mostly sandbed snails and will occasionally make there way up to about the 1-3 inch line of rock work.

You may want to contact one of our sponsors about a clean up crew. I have personally worked with John Maloney of Reef Cleaners in the past. You may want to start a conversation with him about an appropriate clean up crew.

As Mr. X stated all packages are overkill. You really want to start with just a few critters and add more as you add more fish.

Cool, conch sails sound like they would do good, how many of those would be recommend for a 25?Astera and Mexican turbos 2. I'll see if I contact him, he sounds helpful
 
I love conch snails. just my two cents. I have a ten gallon and my conch handles that easy. I couldn't imagine you would need more then two.

also, I had a turbo but he kept mowing over and rearranging my frags... I ended up returning him because he was doing so much damage
 
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