Is a cleaning crew a must?

[chocolates mom]

Do I really need the snails and crabs? If I didn't have them and got ich I could treat the fish in the main tank without having to move them.

[tedmc2]

I guess you don't really "need' a cleaning crew, but the benefits far outweight the negatives, particularly the snails. Crabs and snails eat left over food, dentritus, and algea. Plus, IMO, they just add to the look and overall bio-diversity of the tank.

[sdsheeks]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6936918#post6936918 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chocolates mom
Do I really need the snails and crabs? If I didn't have them and got ich I could treat the fish in the main tank without having to move them.

I would get a cleaning crew and a small 10g tank and set it up as a QT. It is better to treat ich and whatever else you might get in a QT tank instead of your main. Just my opinion.

Dave

[SeniorKabong]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6936918#post6936918 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chocolates mom
Do I really need the snails and crabs? If I didn't have them and got ich I could treat the fish in the main tank without having to move them.

I had to treat my tank for Ich a few weeks ago and left my cleaning crew in the tank because I had nowhere else to put them. All in all, I only lost 1 emerald crab and 1 peppermint shrimp and was left still with about 8-10 crabs and 10-12 snails.

[gtriamy]

get a QT, if ur treating the fish like i think u are (with copper), then u are risking ur sand and ur rock by adding the copper in there. any ( and i mean any) copper added to the system will be sucked up into the sand and rock like a sponge, only to leech forever and ever. that means that you won't be able to put any inverts in there again. there are other ways of treating ick (hypersalinity, hyposalinty, increased temp...etc) that are much safer to ur tank and costly sand and rock.

[chocolates mom]

No I'm not treating with copper. This is what I'm trying to figure out. I'm worried about the move from the QT to the main tank causing stress and then ich. Everytime I get a new fish it gets ich right away and I'm assuming it is from the stress of the move from the LFS to my tank.

[bertoni]

The stress doesn't help, but the ich parasite has to be present for the disease to happen. You don't want to treat for ich in a tank that contains live rock, anyway, IMO.

For a cleanup crew, a few snails might be all that you need.

[Sk8r]

Anything you can do to avoid treating the whole main tank is a benefit, IMHO. When you start throwing metals and medicines into the water in which all your critters live, you can affect the microlife which helps sustain the fish. Many fish supplement their fishfood with copepods and such, and the more you have your tank operate like nature, the healthier your environment, the healthier the fish. You don't need to set up a second whole tank: just keep a clean container in reserve and a small pump and light in the garage. Haul it out when and if you need it---but with a tank with a good basis in microfauna, you're less likely to need it, again, IMHO.