Need Clean Up Crew Recommendations for new SPS tank

[marino420td]

My 120 gallon sps tank is cycling and I want to know what you recommend for a clean up crew. Tank will be predominantly sps with some lps.

Also, where is the best place to order clean up critters (price and service)?

[REEF-DADDY]

try keyscritters.com or reeftopia.com

[DaddyJax]

inverts.com

[marino420td]

Should I add hermit crabs or just snails. In my current tank I see my hermits crawling on my sps corals. I have read mixed reviews on hermits in an sps tank. What are your thoughts?

[nwrogers]

I have been using the clean up crew from garf.org and have been very happy with it. Mine includes the Mexican Red Leg Hermit Crabs (Clibanarius digueti), Cerith Snail (Cerithium strercusmuscarum), and the Nerite Snail (Nerita funiculata). I have been really happy with this crew so far but I am also tagging along to see what others are using since I am in the market for a new crew in the next couple of days. I have never seen my hermit crabs bothering SPS but they do upset my zoos, mushrooms, and other softies at feeding time. They are always trying to take food right out of their mouths. They are not terribly aggressive towards snails and I have actually never seen one of these crabs attack a snail for its shell. I do however see a few walking around in their shells and yes I do have extra shells lying around for the crabs to move into. With that said they could be just moving into the shells of snails that have died off. My tank has been very clean with this crew and I have never had an algae break out other than bubble algae since I set my tank up 8 months ago. If you do decide to go with hermit crabs I would recommend these ones but you may want to skip the hermits all together depending on other people’s experiences. Hopefully we will hear from some of them…

[nwrogers]

bump

[kozmo02]

blue leg hermits, cerith snails, nassarius snails, astrea snails. That combo makes for a pretty good cleanup crew, that is what I have in my 180 and they do a great job. The hermits take care of the rockwork really well and the astreas take care of the glass for the most part. The cerith and nassarius snails are great detritus eaters as well.

keyscritters.com is where I ordered my stuff.

[Charlie Davidson]

www.reeftopia.com look under lot buys-- only hermits should be scarlets (IMHO)

[Joao Monteiro]

Around here, we normally use the following:

1 nassarius snail for 10 lts (around 3 g)
1 cerith snail for 25 lts (around 6.5 g)
1 white leg hermit (pagurus spp) for 25 lts
1 green leg hermit (clibanarius spp) for 30 lts (around 8 g)

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7878244#post7878244 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Charlie Davidson
www.reeftopia.com look under lot buys-- only hermits should be scarlets (IMHO)

My scarlet jacked my conch. (he was small)

I've had much better luck with mexican red legs, and zebras.

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7878575#post7878575 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Joao Monteiro
Around here, we normally use the following:

1 nassarius snail for 10 lts (around 3 g)
1 cerith snail for 25 lts (around 6.5 g)
1 white leg hermit (pagurus spp) for 25 lts
1 green leg hermit (clibanarius spp) for 30 lts (around 8 g)

That soudns reasonable to me.


I keep seeing people reccomend 1 hermit per gallon, and 1 snail per gallon, and honestly, thats insane. They end up starving to death.

[fishy555]

I would do half and half of snails and blue leg hermits

[Sk8r]

I have snails of every sort, hermits [dwarf blues and scarlets]conchs, shrimp, bristleworms [tons!], and a hairy pincushion urchin [to get the caulerpa that came on my lr.] The only common cleaner I'd avoid is the cucumber---toxins.

[Charlie Davidson]

Rich-- KMA :lol: You a yankee? :) (redlegs)