Advice on cleaning crews

[Spazz67]

Ok tank size is 46 gal. I'm going to surprise my wife with a cleaning crew when she gets back. She plans to get a few corals and replaced the light with an Ocean Sun 10,000K 25 wt bulb, so she doesn't want anything that will eat coral.
In the tank we have 2 A P clowns (could Be False), 1 Royal Gramma, 2 feather dusters, 2 red leg hermits, 1 oyster cluster, and one cerith snail. Also we have 2 things that we have no clue about. Will be posting to identify.
Any thoughts on these and their numbers:
16 Nassarius Snails
4 Cerith Snails
10 Nerite Snails
2 Mexican Turbo Snails
8 Red Leg Hermits
10 Blue Leg Hermits
1 Ruby Red Mithrax
6 Sand Sifter Crabs
2 Emerald Crabs
1 Sally Light Foot crab
1 Sand Sifter Star
1 Pistol shrimp
1 Pistol Goby

 

[austinsdad]

How old is the tank and how much rock? What kinda substrate? Those'll determine how much of a crew to add. Don't add too many such that they'll starve IMO.

I don't know what a sand sifter crab is. I'd also stay away from the emerald green. Some can be sneaky or opportunistic as they get bigger.

Check out brittle (not the green - they get big and bold. Can do in small critteres) or serpent starfish.

Anyway, tell us more about your tank first.

 

[pat8you]

How long the tank has been established will determine what kind of numbers you need. The longer it has been running the larger crew it will support. In general i would recommend halfing this list and seeing how they do with that. You can always add more later. If you add them all and its to much many of them will starve and its just a waste of money as well as killing all those animals.

the mexican turbo snails are great algae grazers but they get real big and drove me crazy because they were constantly bulldozeing over corals and knocking into things. As far as the emerald and sally light foot. They won't bother corals but keep in mind that they are opurtunistic feeders and will eat small/sick fish or anything else they can manage to catch. I'm not a huge fan. Sand sifter stars need a very large deep sand bed to have enough food. I think that it would probably starve after a couple months in your tank.

 

[Spazz67]

Our Readings as of 10/11/2008
Nitrite= 0 Nitrate=0 Temp= 78
PH= 8.2 Ammonia= 0

Our Equipment List
Lighting/Hood = RO1636 Model#36PSDX Rated 120 VAC 60 HZ 40 WT
Bulb = Ocean Sun 10,000K 25 wt 36in

Tank = 46 gal bow face H=21in W= 3ft Short D= 12in Long D= 16in with glass cover.

Powerheads/wavemakers= 1 Zoo Med Power sweep 30 gal wt pre filter (rotating)
2 Wal-Mart stationary power heads

Heater = 2x UL 100 wt

Filters= 2x Whisper 10-30i with Biofilters
3 1/2in (100 lbs appx) live sand bed (4/50 lbs bags of non sicila playsand mixed with 25 lbs of reef
orster shells and seeded with 20 lbs of actural live sand and
cycled for about 8 weeks. Still have about 120/140 lbs dried,
sealed, and stored in our building.
Bio Pro Sk-40 Air Driven Protein Skimmer
Livestock= 2 A.p clownfish (mated pair)(might be false)
1 Royal Gramma
2 Red leg hermits
3 Peppermint Shrimp
2 Feather Duster
1 Oyster Cluster

 

[Spazz67]

How long the tank has been established will determine what kind of numbers you need. The longer it has been running the larger crew it will support.

Tanks been running about 6 mts.
I for got to add a pistol shrimp and Pistol Goby. I'm going by her wish list.

 

[Spazz67]

How old is the tank and how much rock? What kinda substrate? Those'll determine how much of a crew to add. Don't add too many such that they'll starve IMO.

I don't know what a sand sifter crab is. I'd also stay away from the emerald green. Some can be sneaky or opportunistic as they get bigger.

Check out brittle (not the green - they get big and bold. Can do in small critteres) or serpent starfish.

Anyway, tell us more about your tank first.

I posted all my stats no LR yet. 3 1/2 sand bed. But I have alge every where. Plan to get some LR soon. Got an extra tank to cure it in.

 

[austinsdad]

I like the idea of halving tht list also. I like the idea also of leaving the emerald green and mithrax off the list.

As far as the pistol shrimp and goby goes, you're gonna have to make sure the rock is on the bottom of the tank. If sitting on the sand, the shrimp will cause an avalanche and get hurt - or worse, make rock fall against glass.

How much rock in there?

 

[austinsdad]

If no LR yet, I'd not add any cleaning crew other than what you already have. Maybe snails for the algae.

 

[roka64]

16 Nassarius Snails (these guys are great. I just added 10 small ones and 5 large in my tank, yesterday)
4 Cerith Snails (another good choice)
10 Nerite Snails (good so far)
2 Mexican Turbo Snails (good)
8 Red Leg Hermits (I'm not really a fan of any hermits, but go for the dwarf ones)
10 Blue Leg Hermits
1 Ruby Red Mithrax (either or)
6 Sand Sifter Crabs (not sure what these are, but a pistol shrimp will constantly move sand around)
2 Emerald Crabs (maybe one but as Ray stated, they can get nasty when they get bigger)
1 Sally Light Foot crab (neat little guys, but still a crab)
1 Sand Sifter Star (these need a large well established tank, I would skip this)
1 Pistol shrimp (perfect, but don't hope to see it much, make sure your rock is firmly on the tank's bottom)
1 Pistol Goby (I love these, especially with the shrimp)
How about a fire or cleaner shrimp?

 

[Spazz67]

6 Sand Sifter Crabs (not sure what these are, but a pistol shrimp will constantly move sand around)
quote]
This is what is called a sand sifter crab. But it looks like a flea to me.

 

[melosu58]

IMO the tank is too new to add that big of a clean up crew. As stated above one half of that or even smaller would suffice. Nice little sand crabs. I wonder if they would bother the nassarius snails. Just wondering.

 

[roka64]

Nice catch, I forgot to mention not putting all of those in a newer tank!

 

[Spazz67]

IMO the tank is too new to add that big of a clean up crew. As stated above one half of that or even smaller would suffice. Nice little sand crabs. I wonder if they would bother the nassarius snails. Just wondering.

So about one third to a half would be good? And heres the info I got on the Sand sifter crabs from Saltwaterfish.com.

And I quote "The Sand Sifting Crab is a small round-bodied gray crab with small digging appendages, but no true claws. These little crabs bury themselves into the sand. When feeding they'll leave their forebody out of the sand, using two small "scoops" to catch food. These crabs are peaceful and can be kept in groups. The Sand Sifting Crab will not eat any beneficial creatures in the sand bed; they are filter feeders. They are also a great feeder food for larger fish.

Crabs belong to the Class Crustacea and Order Decapoda, which is characterized by two pair of antennae, three body parts, and five pairs of legs. The head of a Crab is connected to the thorax and covered by a shell called carapace. They have a smaller abdomen and tail compared to Shrimp and they keep this tucked beneath the carapace. The first pair of their legs are usually developed claws which they use to gather food, use as protection, and to move objects. In order for Crabs to grow they need to shed their exoskeleton, a process called "molting", which allows them to remove their restricting shell and begin a new one. Often times in the home aquarium Crabs will leave this translucent shell in full view so it can serve as a distraction while the Crab finds a hiding place and allows its new shell to harden.

 

[Copepod]

When I slide my cursor over it, it says it is a flea !!

 

[OniTweak]

Nothing is better then watching a pistol shrimp moving sand out from underneath a rock. Looks like a bulldozer but it makes a smaller tank a mess. It's also great seeing the Goby down there looking out of the cave at you knowing there is a pistol shrimp behind him. I just bought one of each yesterday and they immediately paired up. I feel very lucky about that.

 

[Spazz67]

When I slide my cursor over it, it says it is a flea !!

The picture of it was titled that when I saved it.

 

[pat8you]

With no live rock in the tank i would go even smaller then half that list. Maybe even a quarter. You can always add more as you go along.