Clean up crew for a 24g NC?

[Laz A]

I dont know which kind and how many of each snail I should have... I also dont know what the diff between blue and red hermits is or how many I should have for about 30ish lbs of rock. I would also really like a serpent or brittle star if the 20 lbs of sand in my 24g is sufficient for its food source.
Since I am just cycling the tank now (on day 2) I also dont know when I should introduce them to the tank, Id like atleast snails and crabs soon to battle the diatoms and algae when it comes around, not sure how delicate the stars are when it comes to dealing with cycling parameter issues.

Hows:
8 margarita snails or cernith (dunno which)
8 blue and 8 red hermits (dont know the diff but figured diversity is good)
4 nassarius
1 sand sifting star

I just threw something out there... dunno if this is too much/ too little, a bad mix, or ok

*confused*
Laz

[NanoReefWanabe]

diatoms will clear on their own...dont add any cleanup crew until the tank is done or nitrite and ammonia are undetectable..

your star will die, and your chosen snails are mostly glass cleaners...need more diversity IMHO...you could likely get away with less crabs too...but who knows every tank is different...i add more as i feel i need them...dont stick them all in at once..or they will starve die and recycle your tank..one or two every couple days once cycle is done.

cleanup crew link for nanos (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1370391)

[Laz A]

Thanks for the input... anymore ideas?

[NanoReefWanabe]

serpent and brittle stars dont need sand....they will forage everywhere in the tank...and eat mostly meaty foods....

[Laz A]

24g NC wont support a star?

[NanoReefWanabe]

not a sand sifting star (100gallons)....brittle and serpents will be fine, but they can get big...and catch your fish and eat them...also avoid linkia stars, for that matter most, stars that dont begin with brittle or serpent..also stay away from green and orange brittles as they are voracious hunters..

[Laz A]

which stars work then? lol

[NanoReefWanabe]

black brittle, almost all serpents...will live in a NC....but they all eat meaty foods...mine chase down pellets and flakes too...LOL but i always througha piece of mysis, or krill in his little hiding hole...

they certainly arent sand movers though...they will eat any meaty foods left to settle anywhere in the tank though...if snails, crabs, shrimp, fish, worms, etc...dont beat them to it

for sand sifting i highly recommend a strawberry conch...and nassarius snails...for glass i really like astrea snails and margarites...for the rocks i like turbos, ceriths, and trochus, crabs will also do a good job on the rocks and "on" the sand.

[Laz A]

So hows:
10 hermits blue/red
10 astreas
10 nassarius
1 strawberry conch
1 sally light foot
1 emerald crab
1 decorator crab

[NanoReefWanabe]

decorator is a nono i believe...they do just that and move and remove everything...

sallys are nice...more decorative though i think..emerald is good with bubble aglae and mine used to eat hair as well...but died as a lack of food...

maybe 5 of each hermit, eventually five astreas, ten nassarius should be fine...you will find the blue legs will steal their shell though..you should look into trochus, cerith, stomella, margarite, nerite snails as well...they all do their little bit..a couple of each is never a bad thing..

[rhunter513]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12345300#post12345300 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Laz A
So hows:
10 hermits blue/red
10 astreas
10 nassarius
1 strawberry conch
1 sally light foot
1 emerald crab
1 decorator crab

That's a great list but there is no magic number. Start small and cater to your need. If you have lots of algae then you need lots of algae eaters. If you added that entire list at once many would starve. Here's my list:

10 astrea snail - great all around snail for rock and glass
5 nass snail great for sand but they will do some glass
5 scarlet reef hermits - blue legs will kill astreas for there shells avoid the blue legs
1- emerald crab - eat bubble algae and good all around
1 - pep shrimp for aiptaisa, getting a skunk cleaner shrimp this weekend.

I would only go with two non-hermit crabs.
Also you will have to keep an eye on your astreas, they can not right themselve if they fall upside down. Again go slow with your cuc and don't add them all at once. Add half your list and wait and see what else you'll need

my 2 cents