12 gallon clean up crew?

[untraceable726]

i have a question, i have a 12 gallon tank with live rock and two clowns and a royal dottyback in it, i have no clean up crew in it at all and realized today i should have put one in when i started the tank almost 9 months ago. so i was doing some research and looked around and figured this would be a good clean up crew to put in? please let me know what you think and if you have any advice. thanks a head of time.

4 nerite snails
3 nasarrius snails
2 cerith snails
1 turbo snail

 

[Ziggy953]

I would go with Astrea snails over the nerites and not get any turbos at all. For the Nasarrius I assume you have a sandbed not crushed coral correct?

Welcome to AA btw!!

 

[untraceable726]

thank you, ummm i have sand bed of about 2 inches and a light layer of crushed coral on top of it maybe 1/2 inch. so what would you say i need then? break it down for me if you dont mind.

 

[untraceable726]

oh i also was reading, is the bumble bee snail a good choice or just a waste of time and money?

 

[melosu58]

The Nasarrius snails travel through the sand bed. The CC is too big and sharp for those snails.

 

[Ziggy953]

I would remove the CC and stick with just the sand bed. Bumble bee snails have been known to kill other snails. I've never had any.

 

[untraceable726]

ah ok this was my plan, i have thought about removing the crushed coral because its just a pain umm i have a 37 gallon im currently in the process of setting up, once its good and ready im going to move the live rock and eventually the dottyback and clowns over to start that tank going which i will turn into a FOWLR or reef tank (havent decided just yet) and then turn this smaller 12 gallon into a dwarf sea horse tank. so overall how many snails should i have for this small of a tank and which kinds?

no bumble bee snails got it!

 

[Ziggy953]

Astreas ceriths and nassarius are great. A mix of them is cool and typically in an established system you want 1 cleaner per gallon of water. If your tank is fairly new I would do about half that amount to start.

 

[untraceable726]

ok so roughly between 6 and 12 cleaners got it! thanks! is 9 months considered a new tank?

 

[Ziggy953]

not really, I would still add about half now and then more later

 

[untraceable726]

will do thanks!

 

[Ziggy953]

Anytime! Good luck and get some pics posted of your tank so we can oooo and aaaah at it!!

 

[mr_X]

you don't need a cleanup crew. I've run large systems with very few or no snails for years without ill effects.

 

[Ziggy953]

you don't need a cleanup crew. I've run large systems with very few or no snails for years without ill effects.

I've said it a million times. There is not one right way of doing things. Mimic nature is what I go for and there are snails and hermits and shrimp all over a reef. To many a CUC is a preference I enjoy watching a hermit do a balancing act 10" from certain death, or see a snail work like mad to get to the top of a rock to fall off the other side. That being said, they do add a benefit to the system and help with diversity.

 

[mr_X]

but the fact of the matter is that when you add a piece of food to the tank, no matter what creature eats it, it's still in the tank. snails and crabs do not reduce nutrient levels. they don't "clean" anything. they just change it from fish poop to snail poop..lol.

 

[Ziggy953]

but the fact of the matter is that when you add a piece of food to the tank, no matter what creature eats it, it's still in the tank. snails and crabs do not reduce nutrient levels. they don't "clean" anything. they just change it from fish poop to snail poop..lol.

Nutrient reduction...hmmm fish poop to snail poop...

Anyway, I'm in favor of snails and a limited number of hermits in a SW system.