Clean Up Crew

[Original DMx]

I was out of the hobby for a while and am now starting up a little 40 mixed reef. I'm in need of a clean up crew and was hoping to find the best website for the best deals. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Reefcleaners.org is great.

[cloak]

Your LFS is probably your best bet IMO. A lot of people seem to forget that they can keep the glass & the sand clean all by themselves. Web sites like www.reefcleaners.com do sell CUC packages, but the number of critters in these packages can be astronomical sometimes. You want to go slow at first and hopefully if everything goes right you'll only need a few odds and ends here and there.

This is just my opinion but for a 40 gallon tank, maybe 5-7 Trochus snails, a couple Scarlet hermit crabs and a couple Cleaner shrimp would be a nice fit. GL

[Original DMx]

Thanks for the input. I need something quick, I just added three fish to the tank and one disappeared after doing great after the first day (purple firefish). Anhyhow, I couldn't find it after a couple of days and then I noticed my leather wasn't extending. Then I saw my orange bubble tip was completely shriveled up and it's mouth was protruding slightly. I thought it was the end for him and I was bummed, but I did a 75% water change and several hours later some of the bubbles tips were filled up with water. Long story short, everything started coming back but I can't help but think that a clean up crew would have minimized the damage by consuming most of the waste before it broke down. Hopefully I don't have any more fish loss, but just in case, I think the clean up crew can never hurt.

[cloak]

What are your parameters?

[Original DMx]

Everything was great when I placed the fish in. I didn't even bother to test before I did the water change as I was positive the ammonia was through the roof and I knew I needed to get the bad water out.