29gl clean up crew....

[Boolay1978]

Any ideas on what and how many I should have for a 29gl reef tank. I have two blue hermits and turbo snails both large did have some small red but they have died I think as not seen then for some time. I have a Valentino Puffer Fish so can't have shrimp!!! Any ideas?

 

[obscurereef]

Nassarius snails are my fav.! They are very active and clean/aerate the sandbed well. When I feed my fish as soon as the food touches the ground almost all of the nassarius snails come chasing after it. If something died and you couldn't find it, you'd be sure that they were there to clean it up before the decay raised the nitrates too much. Serpent seastars are nice, I have one, but rarely see it. Ceriths don't make a dent, but some are nice to get into the small crevices that many other snails can't. I'd say get a lot more hermit crabs (maybe 10 if you want) as they are great cleaners! Nerites are also good and I'd only recommend turbos if you have a HUGE out break of hair algae as they are bulldozers and will fix that in no time. There are others, but those are just a few that I've had experience with.

 

[Beengirl]

I like the banded trochus snails and astrea. I also have quite a few Nassarius and hermits. Have a conch for the sandbed.

 

[Phranque]

Definitely recommend the nassarius snails, they are very cool & great for the sand bed. I have a few ceriths, and agree with obscurereef... they don't do a heck of a lot. My best cleaners are my astreas. They go anywhere & clean just about anything, but if you have loose frags, they will move them around/tip them over, and if they fall on their backs, they sometimes can't right themselves.

 

[paul87]

Check out the tongan nassaris snails. My favorite! I got one on accident when I got a few regular nassaris snails. Its a little bigger than my nassaris snails but the shell is awesome looking and he does a great job stirring sand.