your cleanup crew and tank size

[scottayy]

I have a 55 gallon tank and I just ordered a cleanup crew of:

50 Dwarf Cerith
10 Nassarius Vibex
21 Florida Cerith
10 Nerite Snails (Large)
10 Nerite Snails (Small - Medium)

On top of my existing ~5 snails, ~5 red leg crabs, and a sea cucumber

I think I might have overdone it? Will I have to supplement to keep them all alive?

How many critters do you have and what size of tank?

[deepseadan]

I have five narcissus and three turbos in my 90 gallon reef. They more than maintain my tank. I would definitely feed yours

[scottayy]

Hey deepseadan do you have a bigger picture of your tank in your avatar? I tried to look in your gallery once but didn't see it. But it looks amazing in your avatar.

And,

If you look at the packages for cleanup crews on reefcleaners.org they are all sized like the one I ordered (for each aquarium size) and I was recommended by the guy there to get that setup (since I largely don't know anything).

I'm not badmouthing reefcleaners in any way shape or form. I love their service and rock and their friendly staff.. even getting 1 on 1 answers and emails.. it's very awesome. I was just googling and read a lot lower # for cleanup crews than what I ordered.

[carey]

I always order for half the tank size from reefcleaners. They really go overboard with their crew sizes. You'll def want to feed them. Youre gonna have a boatload lol

[scottayy]

so what do i feed them lol
just litter the tank with fish food pellets?

[FTMMWS]

0 in my 125..

[rdnelson99]

Originally Posted by carey

I always order for half the tank size from reefcleaners. They really go overboard with their crew sizes. You'll def want to feed them. Youre gonna have a boatload lol

My question is this....with that CUC will there be any room for fish? LOL

[carey]

LOL.

I have 40 narsisuss snails in my 125g which I dont consider cuc, about 5 hermits and a sea hare. Thats it.

I have 20 of the same snails in my cube, one turbo snail and 5 hermits maybe.

My 55g on the other hand is full of critters as I ordered the full crew for a 55g when I started it up. So i have dozens of snails and maybe a dozen hermits left.

[scottayy]

just got these guys today
boy they are going to town already
im sure i got even more than i ordered! lol
it is fun to watch them
i think the dwarf ceriths are my favorite

[scottayy]

Do you guys clean the inside of your glass on a regular basis or let your CUC do all of the work?

I know I've been struggling to get my nitrates down for a couple of months (probably ~10ppm now) but it just seems I have abnormal algae growth.

I didn't rub off the inside of the glass before my water change today because I wanted to leave it for my numerous clean up crew members.

[joy13]

On my 55 I have 5 Nassarius. 3 banded trochus, 3 turban for snails, a couple of blue legged hermits and 2 peppermints. I keep the sides and front of the tank clean and the snails keep the sand and rocks clean. I deported a couple of turbo snails to a 45 gallon tank since they were knocking over all my frags. My rock was covered with hair algae when I got it off craigslist so I needed help getting it under control while my tank established.

You seem to have a rather large CUC for your tank.

[crister13]

I have about 50 hermits in my 150 and 2 turbos. Also about 5 astrea. I think CUCs are completely overrated. Mine dont really do much except my snails. I scrub the algae off my glass regularly.

[crister13]

Also nassarius thay are good too.

[carey]

I only have 40 nassarius snails and 3 hermits in my 125g. I do have a seahare and lawnmower blenny though for algae control.

[scottayy]

I quite like all of them though! They litter the sand and give it a cool look. So I'm going to get some Spirulina wafers to keep them.

I'm just wondering if they will eat ALL of my algae, since they're so numerous. Seems like they would.

They sure are keeping the sand clean but I'm not sure about the glass.

[TraceyB4602]

I our 100g we have:
75ish Various Hermits
20 Turbo snails
8 Narsisuss snails
20 bumblebee snails
1 pincushin urchin
1 brittle starfish
7 pepermint shrimp
and some say banded coral shrimp are cleaners so I have 2 of them....

We have lots lol

[scottayy]

Originally Posted by TraceyB4602

I our 100g we have:
75ish Various Hermits
20 Turbo snails
8 Narsisuss snails
20 bumblebee snails
1 pincushin urchin
1 brittle starfish
7 pepermint shrimp
and some say banded coral shrimp are cleaners so I have 2 of them....

We have lots lol

Do you notice them dying any.. perhaps from starvation? Is your tank pretty algae free/do you clean your glass often? Do you supplement with food for your cuc?

[Chris-Nicol]

I think phosphate in ur tank can speed up Algue growth as well. I mite be wrong but that's what I was told recently.

[scottayy]

Yeah, I'm sure I have phosphates along with my nitrates. I've been battling to eliminate nitrates and algae for the better part of two months now. I just can't do a large enough water change at once :| I only have an 18g bucket. Even when I do that every other day for a week I still can't get it below 10ppm. And if I let it go for a week it will be back up to about 20.

I dunno, I might just use the chemi-clean again. It cleared all of my algae last time (but is also the reason for a nitrate spike).

The algae is growing faster than my rather large sized clean up crew can get to it.

Maybe I can use the chemi-clean a couple of weeks in a row to get the algae all gone and then do a bunch of pwc's (maybe daily) and get it under control that way.

[TraceyB4602]

Ever since we added a sump to our set-up and started using ro water we haven't seen much algae at all. They are all doing good as far as I can see, no shells empty. We do feed them ( and our fish/anemones) 1 tablespoon, 2-3 times a week with our own mix of food ( ground up scallops, shrimp, mussels, clams, spinach, carrots, nori, and tobiko). We push it through our powerhead so it disperses throughout the tank. I'm confident that doing it that way covers the tank with pieces left behind for the little guys.