clean up crew?

[tabndust]

what kind of clean up crews are everybody using? how many of what and what size tank? what kind of substrate are you using?

any recomendation on what to use with different subsrate setups?

best places for quality quanity and price?

[woodywood]

90 gallon tank with 30 blue leg hermits, 30 red leg hermits, 20-30 cerith snails, 10 turbo snails, and a shallow southdown bed.


see if zepplin has any cerith snails left, good price.

[asnatlas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6891231#post6891231 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tabndust
best places for quality quanity and price?

reeftopia (http://reeftopia.com/)

keyscritters (http://keyscritters.com)

[mcox33]

hey guys the CHEMICAL VALLEY REEF CLUB just did one of these group buys for clean up crew and were very disappointed in keyscritters. Check out this thread starting with page 4 (after the shipment arrived) before that it is just getting it together to know what to order, http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=770629&perpage=25&pagenumber=4

I really don't think you want to consider keyscritters.

Just our clubs experience.

[szwab]

I've always stuck with reeftopia and have been very satisfied. :)

[Treg]

90g, BB, Good Skimmer, Weekly water changes.... 6 Mexican Turbo snails.
(They were buy 5 get one free.) :)

[hollback]

I'm a big fan of www.etropicals.com I like the fact that you can build your own cleanup crew and if you spend more than $60 it's free shipping. This allowed me to get exactly what I wanted unlike everyone else's pre-built packages.

[sammie]

I know Zepplin uses reeftopia for clean up guys. He and phishy seem to have the best prices on snails and crabs if you want crabs. To me it seems easier to buy these locally as the online prices aren't much better unless you do a group buy or bulk order from reeftopia.

[asnatlas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6892239#post6892239 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Treg
90g, BB, Good Skimmer, Weekly water changes.... 6 Mexican Turbo snails.
(They were buy 5 get one free.) :)

Treg I am looking at a 600gal, BB with a BK400, how many snails you think I would need ? 40 or so ?? Where did you get yours at ?? Do you think I would need anything else other then the Mexican Turbo's...

[Treg]

Heck I dont know shawn.
I dont know your cleaning, feeding or stocking habbitts. I just know what works for me.

I do 25g weekly water changes, removing all detritus I can get too while I'm at it.
I dont overfeed or overstock. I skim to the wet side.
What I'm getting at, I keep things as clean as possible on my own.

I've never liked crabs or astreas. Astreas just flip on their backs and die, hermits crawl all over corals and cause them to keep their polyps in, then eat the astreas...

IF I had a DSB I would have Ceriths in it...

I've always had good luck with the Mexican Turbos, Other than they can be frag makers if you have a branching coral close to the rock.
These guys are big and low branches sometimes break.
They eat what little algae I have growing and they seem to live longer than most.

I had a small algae bloom with this tank when I finally turned the lights on. I added the 6 turbos and it was all wiped out in a week.
I'm pretty much algae free now and if it stays that way (Like I expect) 1/2 will probably get moved to another tank...

A tank your size, I would guess 30-60. I bought mine at Jacks, You might be better off getting that many online. Liveaquaria maybe?

[asnatlas]

LOL, thanks Treg, I was just asking for a educated guess as I have never owned any Mexican Turbo's... I will look into getting some to see how they work out...

[Treg]

If it were my tank, when the algae bloom starts, I'd probably buy 30 and go from there after a few weeks. :)

[asnatlas]

Just to make sure I am on the same page... There are two kinds of Turbo Snails, correct ?? Astrea and Mexican ??

On liveaquaria (www.liveaquaria.com) I found Turbo Snail (Turbo fluctuosa) - Mexican (http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=571&N=0)...

On reeftopia (http://reeftopia.com) I find Turbo Snail (Astrea)...

[Treg]

No idea why they would have the Astrea snail labeled as a Turbo...

This is what I have, Mexican Turbo .
http://a1272.g.akamai.net/7/1272/1121/20040618130618/www.liveaquaria.com/images/products/large/p_79687.jpg

From Marine Depot:
(Lot of 48 for $49)
http://us.st11.yimg.com/store1.yimg.com/I/marinedepotlive_1883_2768438

[asnatlas]

Thanks Treg, I was looking at Live Aquaria and they had the following :

12 to 24: $1.79
25 to 49: $1.59
50 to 99: $1.29

48 for $49 is better :p

[Treg]

Yeah thats a good buy forsure. :)

[RokleM]

Well if someone places an order, I could use two true Mexican Turbo's (not astrea's). I don't need mammoth suckers like 2", but a couple 1-1.5" would be great.

That is, unless someone knows where to get them local. I typically just get most of my cleanup crew from phishy (headed there to beef up this weekend actually).

I had my first major loss a week or so back (Belize snail), and my tank it starting to show already. Other than two cleaner shrimp, he was first into my tank :( Dude was a freein' algae plow, so if the Mexican Turbo's work half as well, I'll be happy.

(look in the bottom right corner, black and white, he was about 2").
http://mad-skillz.com/aquarium/01.28.2006-8.jpg

[asnatlas]

RokleM, I will prob be placing an order soon... I will let you know... Anyone else ??

[thebrian]

Jack's usually has the Mexican Turbos. For other clean up-crew items, I usually go to phishy because he has good prices on clean-up crews and is local.

[jh2pizza]

Phishy has great prices on cleanup crew. May want to check him out and its local.