Want to Start a Marine Aquarium?: A Step by Step Guide

[Paul B]

Travis come on. I never use cinder blocks. Bricks are much better and more porous but of course asphalt that has been underwater fifty years is the best.

[Travis L. Stevens]

Was I thinking of someone else with cinder blocks in their tank? I could have sworn it was you.

[Medak]

The most helpfull part of this thread is not the volume of information (much of which is available in many other locations and forms) but more in Travis's ability to offer it in a way that newbs like myself can readly understand. You are truly the laymans expert sir.

I started recearching SW about 10 minutes after setting the tank up as FW. I did months of research, asked questions at the LFS, (i love new acronyms, if only hobbies came with decoder rings), bought books, read articles and forums, ect... At the point I started setting up the tank (about 3 weeks ago now) I felt rather confident on my handle of the process.

I cannot tell you how many Doh! moments I've had after reading this thread, from missing the "rinse the live sand" step (stuff is still floating around in there), to the most recent "add all the live rock at once" step (tried to get away with spacing the rock cost out), or just general "THATS what that means!" moments (the lighting section was big on thoes for me). This thread has been the most valuable source of info I have found so far.

So to bring this 3 paragraph butt kiss to a close, I would like to thank you. Your willingness to sacrifice time and effort for the sole benifit of others (like myself) is inspiring and appreciated. I look forward to the next update, as you have caught up to my current progress.

[Travis L. Stevens]

Thanks Medak. I enjoy butt kissing. I don't get enough.

I'm sure that you already understand this by now with your experience, but I'm trying to make the thread as informative as possible without giving a strong bias to anything. As you can see from your own trial and error, there is more than one way to do things (as Paul B's tank is a perfect example). Just find something that works for you, research what you have to do to maintain it, and stick with it.

[kfowler]

I'm having a very hard time finding 6" ABS or PVC piping for the overflow. Lowes and Home Depot do not carry that size and the hardware store I called only carries 10 feet sections for $40. That's way too much pipe for my needs. Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

[Travis L. Stevens]

Once again, this is another reason why I need to update the beginning of this thread. If you can't find anything for an overflow, there are two options you can use easily. This first option is super easy. Just add a 90º Elbow on the drain pointing up. It will skim the surface of the water. You might have to add some eggcrate or gutter screen in order to keep your desirable animals from getting sucked down to the sump. Secondly, you can cut a piece of acrylic, put some teeth in it, bend it, and silicon it in. I'll cover more of these options when I update and revise the thread.

[Travis L. Stevens]

---~~~<<<{{{[[[ Part 1: Complete! ]]]}}}>>>~~~---

Yup, that's right. The first part of setting up a marine aquarium is complete! You should now be able to choose an aquarium, a filtration method, lighting, and water flow as well as setting the whole thing up! By now, you should most likely have a tank set up, your filtration placed, and you are awaiting the first chance to place in livestock! Now, let's dive in to the world of animals!

[Travis L. Stevens]

---~~~<<<{{{[[[ Part 2: Livestock ]]]}}}>>>~~~---

Now, we get to venture into the world of adding livestock. I'll do my best to cover various commonly asked questions and concerns about livestock such as fish, anemones, invertebrates, corals, etc. Of course, as most things in this hobby, your results will vary drastically. I've seen people keep high light corals in lower light tanks with great success and delicate fish being placed in aquariums and grow great. Is this ideal for the animal? I'll leave that decision up to you.

[JamesJR]

Oh boy! I am enjoying this thread!

[Travis L. Stevens]

Step 1: The Importance of Quarantine

In the first step we will cover the importance of quarantining all new arrivals and how to set up a quarantine tank. This is something that is often overlooked by many aquarists, new and old alike. But, it's like gambling. You win some, and you lose some. And in some of the worst cases, you can lose everything. I cannot stress enough how important quarantining all new arrivals can be. Hopefully I can explain some of the things that can come in on animals. You know, use it like a scare tactic....er...uh....I mean an example.

Why Quarantine?
Parasites & Disease
Health
Behavior
Other
Setting Up a Quarantine Tank
The Essential Pieces
Leave It Up or Take It Down?
The Outcome of the Animals
When Do I Place the Animal in the Display Tank?
What Happens If It Is Sick?
...And So Much More!

[Travis L. Stevens]

Step 1: The Importance of Quarantine (Continued)

[size=]Why Quarantine?[/size]

We will cover what and why you should quarantine all your new arrivals. But first, what is a new arrival? And what do you mean by "all"? First and foremost, a new arrival is an animal that you intend to introduce into the display tank eventually. Lastly, by "all", I mean everything. From rocks to algae to fish to corals, everything needs a quarantine time. It might sound like overboard, but when you see the devestation that some of these things cause, you'll be very glad that you quarantined everything.

First, let's take a general look at the definition of Quarantine and Quarantine Tank. Quarantine is the act of placing something in confines to protect it or to protect others from it. A Quarantine Tank itself is simply a tank used to hold an animal for observation before adding it to the main tank. For what it's worth, many people shorten up the term "Quarantine Tank" to just "QT". This should help alleviate any possible confusion.

So, now lets look over some of the reasons why you would want a quarantine tank.

Parasites & Disease
Parasites and Disease are a very common thing to accidently introduce into the aquarium. Most commonly Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans) is the largest contributer to large scale problems. But other things such as crabs and mantis shrimp on rocks, Aiptasia and algae on coral frags, Pyramid Snails on Clams, and even parasitic Isopods on fish can all come in on your newly acquired animal. Some of these things don't pose much of a threat, or at least one that can be easily controlled. But some of these can quickly get out of hand and completely wipe a tank clean of life.

Health
Sometimes you get an injured fish. Or it might be sick with something simple. Or a fish injures itself. In either case, you would want a little tank to put the fish in all by itself so it can recover to full health and be placed back in the tank.

Behavior
Sometimes you will get an animal that was once a model citizen, but turned into a demon. Or it is aggressive to a new arrival. In any case, you might want to consider placing the aggressor in time out so things can cool down and territory can be established.

Other
Like most things in this hobby, there is always an exception to any rules. Let your imagination run wild in this category. You might have a special use for the QT if it isn't being used. For example, you might suddenly have a pair of fish that decided to create offspring.

[Travis L. Stevens]

Step 1: The Importance of Quarantine (Continued)

[size=]Setting up a Quarantine Tank[/size]

The Essential Pieces
The Quarantine Tank is a very simple and basic set up. Quite frankly, all it includes is a tank with optional stand, a heater to keep it warm, fresh saltwater, and a form of filtration. Most often used are Bubble/Sponge Filters and Hang On the Back Power Filters. The reason why people use these are because they are cheap, easy to use, and only temporary. That's it! That's all you truly need for a QT. But, why just that?

A lot of people want to put things like sand, rock, corals, etc as permanent additions to the QT. This is something that should actually be avoided. Mainly for the fact that if a sick animal was to be placed in the QT, whatever is making the animal sick could stay in the rocks or sand or even effect the other additions. Let's look at an example. Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans) is actually a parasite. Most parasites usually have three phases in their life cycle. First, they are found in a waiting transition outside of the host. Then they find a host (or a host finds them) and they reproduce. Then the offspring normally come out of the host to find a new host. The cycle then repeats itself. There are many variations to a parasite's life cycle that are completely dependent on the species, but in the case of Marine Ich, the little white spots that you see are cysts formed from the Marine Ich's reproductive stage. From there, they drop out into the sand and rock and can survive like this for ~6 weeks (sometimes more, sometimes less) until they come out into a free swimming stage to find a new host. As you can see, if you had a QT with rocks and sand and you placed an infected fish in there, the next fish that you put in there has a large chance of also contracting Marine Ich.

So, what do you do for reclusive animals that need sand or rocks to hide in? You can use a variety of things such as PVC pipe for them to hide and scavenge in. Providing shelter for animals to hide in helps their overall immune system by creating less stress from fear and provides an area for them to rest peacefully in.

Now, you have all the parts that you need for a QT. Something that you will need to do is make sure that the QT is cycled before adding livestock into it. You can pre-cycle a tank by adding any of the options presented back in Part 1, Step 6: Choosing a Filtration Method - Cycling Your New Tank.

Leave It Up or Take It Down?
Now that we have a Quarantine Tank set up, we now have to make the decision whether or not you want it always set up and ready for new arrivals or other animals from the display. Or, if you should take down the tank for space purposes and cleaning.

Leaving It Up: If you leave the QT up and running, it will always be cycled and ready for new animals. But, it takes up space, can get dirty, and even harbor parasites or diseases.

Taking It Down: If it's being taken down, it's easily stored out of sight, and can be cleaned and sterilized. But, it won;t be ready in an emergency situation and you will have to wait for the cycle to pass all over again.

[Travis L. Stevens]

Step 1: The Importance of Quarantine (Continued)

[size=]The Outcome of the Animals[/size]

When Do I Place the Animal in the Display Tank?
This is a long debated question with no simple answer. All I can say is that I advocate a long quarantine period. Sometimes it takes many weeks for certain symptoms and afflictions to show any outward appearance. Most people with good quarantining habits tend to wait 4-6 weeks. Others more along the lines of 2-4 weeks. Whatever waiting period you choose, there is one thing to remember, it never hurts to wait longer. You could keep something in quarantine for two months before it might be ready to go. But, at least you know it is in tip top shape before it goes in the display.

What Happens If It Is Sick?
In the unfortunate event that one of your animals in quarantine does start to show that it is sick or hurt, then you might need to set up a Hospital Tank to do treatments if it is necessary. In any case, the problem must be treated. After successful treatment, it's a good idea to keep it in quarantine a little longer for observation.

...And So Much More!
There are a lot of other factors involved in quarantining. In fact, there are certain ways to quarantine certain animals. Live rock being a tricky one. Is it cured already? Also, it's not a very good idea to keep more than one animal in QT at a time. If you get two fish, one could become aggressive to the other, or one fish could get the other fish sick. Just make sure you read and research before you buy and while quarantining.

[Travis L. Stevens]

Step 2: Setting up a Hospital Tank

One of the most often overlooked and misunderstood parts of quarantining procedure is setting up a Hospital Tank when something does go wrong in the Quarantine Tank. Most often people take measures of either doing their treatment in the QT itself or set up a Hospital Tank and don't even know it. Quite simply by definition, a Hospital Tank is a seperate container in which treatments are applied. Most often people do their treatments in a bucket and not an actual tank. This is fine to do, but knowing and understanding what a Hospital Tank is helps you in the long run.

But in order for you to properly use a Hospital Tank, you need to know what the animal is afflicted with and how to treat it. I'll do my best to cover some of the more commonly found problems presented.

Identification: Parasites, Disease, Bacterial Infections, Predators, and Pests
Treatment
Hyposalinity
Copper
Freshwater Dips
Iodine Dips
Formalin Dips
Other
Setting Up A Hospital Tank

[kfowler]

Looking forward to Part II Travis.

Can you give us the final specs on your 10g. I've gathered most from your thread but there are still some pieces missing. For instance sand bed depth you went with, are you just using LR for filtration, are you using a heater, etc.

BTW, I found a local plumbing store that sold 6" PVC by the foot. I got their last piece.

[Travis L. Stevens]

Step 2: Setting up a Hospital Tank (Continued)

Identification: Parasites, Diseases, Bacterial Infection, Predators, and Pests

Well, I wanted to break this down by category, but I think that it might be better off as one for the sake of easily getting the information down and not worrying about order.

Many things plague display tanks. Whether it is a predator eating your corals, a pest multiplying prolificly, or a disease killing your fish, having a Quarantine Tank to hold the fish and a Hospital Tank to do the treatment is a must. Let's take a look at the many possible things that can be introduced to your tank.

In no way is this a complete list of things that can come in on livestock, but it is a good start for stuff to look at. I'll post links, references, and pictures at the end of this thread detailing more information that you can follow up on. In the mean time, doing a Google image search often yields just what you need.

Dreadful Disease
Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans): This is the most common disease that happens in the marine aquarium. It forms white cysts on the outside of the fish. The cysts look like little salt or sugar grains sprinkled on the fish.
Clownfish Disease [AKA "Brook"] (Brooklynella species): Fish often have a whitish hue resulting from excess slime production.
Marine Velvet [AKA "Amyloo"] (Amyloodinium ocellatum): This forms white, velvet like patches on the surface of the fish.
Black Ich (Turbellarian worms): These look very similar to Marine Ich, except they are black.
Internal Parasites: Difficult to diagnose by any outward means with any accuracy. Largest indicator is stringy, white faeces.

Fretful Flukes
Gill Flukes: Difficult to diagnose without close examination.
Internal Flukes: Difficult to nearly impossibly to diagnose for average aquarists.
Skin Flukes: Difficult to spot on the outside

Aweful Anemones
Glass Anemones (Aiptasia species): A small anemone that reproduces quickly. It has long, narrow tentacles.
Flower Anemones (Anemonia majano): A small anemone that reproduces quickly. It has short, bulbous tentacles

Problematic 'Pods
Cirolanid Isopods (Parasitic Fish Isopod): A large, pillbug shaped isopod that attaches to fish for their blood
Red Bugs (Acroporid Copepods): A tiny, red copepod that feeds on the tissue of Acroporid corals
Epicaridean isopods (Parasitic Shrimp Isopod): A small isopods that utilizes shrimp for food.

Convoluted Crustaceans
Mantis Shrimp (Stomatopod): A long, shrimp-like crustacean with the ability to club invertebrates or stab fish for food depending on the genus.
Gorilla Crabs: Many crabs often fall under this category, and some unrightfully so. Be wary of all crabs in your tank. Some are opportunistic feeders while others are active hunters.
Decorator Crabs: While not very problematic, their decorating habits make a frustrating nuisance for most aquarists

Naughty Nudibranchs
Aeolid Nudibranchs: Aeolid Nudibranchs eat Cnidarian tissue. They often look similar to their prefered choice of food.
Dorid Nudibranchs: Prey on Cnidarian and Sponge tissue, but are often brightly colored and easily visible.
Montipora Eating Nudibranchs: An Aeolid Nudibranch that is found rather commonly that only eats Montipora corals
Zoanthid Eating Nudibranchs: Another Aeolid Nudibranch that is very common that quickly devours colonies of Zoanthidae

Formidable Flatworms
Acropora Eating Flatworms: A type of flatworm that specifically eats Acroporid coral tissue
Red Flatworms: Not often an active predator, but their numbers can reach large proportions so dense they can smother corals and block light.
Polyclad Flatworms: Often prays on Cnidarian tissue.

Potent Polychaete Worms
Bearded Fireworm (Hermodice carunculata): A carribean bristleworm that predates on coral tissue, especially Gorgonians and Sea Fans
Oenone fulgida: Bristleworm that actively predate on mollusks
Eunice species: large bristleworm that actively eats coral tissue.

Sinister Snails
Sundial Snails: A unique, disk shaped checkered snail that predates on Zoanthidae.
Pyramid Snails: A tiny, white, cone shaped snail that predates on mollusks.
Flamingo Tongue: A beautiful, spotted snail that eats Gorgonian tissue.

Horrible Hydroids
Colonial Hydroids: A small hydroid that quickly grows and pushes back corals
Digitate Hydroids: A long, sweeping hydroid that packs a powerful sting.

Snide Starfish
Astrea Starfish: These little guys don't often present a direct problem, but reproduce at alarming rates. Some species have been noted to eat coral tissue.

Freaky Fish
Pearl Fish: These long, thin fish don't present much of a problem, but often come in hidden inside of sea cucumbers.

[Travis L. Stevens]

Originally posted by kfowler
Looking forward to Part II Travis.

Can you give us the final specs on your 10g. I've gathered most from your thread but there are still some pieces missing. For instance sand bed depth you went with, are you just using LR for filtration, are you using a heater, etc.

BTW, I found a local plumbing store that sold 6" PVC by the foot. I got their last piece.

Sure, I'll try to go home and get more specific details for everyone as well as pictures. I have a lot of projects going on right now on top of this one.

Sounds like you found the score of a lifetime if you can get PVC by the foot! Good on ya! Where did you find this place at? There could be others near you that could use the help.

[kfowler]

This was at S&W Plumbing off of Van Born Rd in Dearborn, MI. He said the piece I bought was the last they had. I'm not sure if that meant they were temporarily out or were going to stop selling it by the foot.

I did see some 6" PVC at Lowes earlier today but it was the 10' piece. I was also looking at a large tuperware container or something simlar if I had not found any PVC.

[Travis L. Stevens]

Step 2: Setting up a Hospital Tank (Continued)

Treatment Methods

There are many different treatment methods available to hobbyists. Most often, people resort to commercial prodcuts. But you must be careful about what ingredients are in the medicine. Some animals are more sensitive than others. Also, some treatment methods are speculated to even stay in the tank, even after cleaning. Whether they do or not is up in the air as far as I know, but it's just another good reason to have seperate containers/tanks to do your treatments in. Not only is the correct identification of the affliction is critical, the correct selection of treatment is just as necessary. If you choose the wrong treatment, you could cause unnecessary stress on the animal which can increase the chance of serious damage or even death. Please, make sure you do lots of extra research before coming to a conclusion and starting treatment. This isn't meant to be a complete, comprehensive guide, but rather a helpful aid to direct you to a path with detailed information.

Hyposalinity
Hyposalinity is the process of slowly dropping the salinity in a container to where the animal can survive, but the affliction cannot. Most often, this is used with Marine Ich on fish.

Copper
The simple use of adding copper to a system will kill invertebrates. It's a strong, and potentially dangerous method, but yet very effective. It is speculated that it stays in the tank even after it is drained and cleaned. This is mainly used for taking care of external parasites on fish.

Freshwater Dips
This is a very stressful method that is occassionally effective. It involves taking an animal and dipping it directly in freshwater. The freshwater causes the cells to burst through osmosis. This applies to both the animal and the affliction. A variety of things are dipped from corals to fish. Fish tend to take the method better. Sometimes freshwater dips are used as a method to flush out unwanted creatures from rocks, sand, and corals.

Iodine Dips
This is similar to a freshwater dip and can even be coupled with a freshwater dip. Iodine in high levels is toxic to most external parasites. But it can also be toxic to invertebrates and corals.

Formalin Baths
A Formalin Bath is often used to kill bacteria. It is either used as a dip to be done in short intervals or is added as a constant source.

Interceptor Dosing
This is the use of a flea killer for dogs that works wonders. You need to be careful to not overdose, and it will kill all crustaceans. Most often this is used as a Red Bug treatment

Erythromycin Dosing
This is the dosage of a medicinal drug in order to help halt bacteria growth. While this is mainly being used by most as a form of nuisance algae and bacteria growth inhibitor, there are implications in the treatment of diseases.

Other
There are many more methods. Each one has its own unique properties and applications. Sometimes the injection of certain products is necessary in order for an animal to overcome a disease. Most often this is done by more advanced aquarists, but with a little research and an experienced helping hand, even some of the more novice aquarists have a chance at saving an animal.

For some of the more advanced aquarists, the use of sedatives such as Clove Oil or MS-222 is needed in order to provide more advanced treatment methods.

The worst part about treatments methods is there aren't that many for ornamental invertebrates like shrimp. But, like most other problems, there are ways to fix it. Just lots of research is needed.

[Travis L. Stevens]

Step 2: Setting up a Hospital Tank (Continued)

Setting Up a Hospital Tank

This subject is a tad tricky. First, you need to find out if it is safe to do treatment in the Quarantine Tank. If so, you are more than welcome to do that. If you can't or don't feel safe with doing treatments in the Quarantine Tank, than you will need a Hospital Tank in order to do the treatments. Now, you have to figure out how to apply the treatment. Is it a prolonged bath? Do they live there until the infection is gone? Or is it a short dip? If it is something that they have to live in, then you will want to set it up similar to another Quarantine Tank. If not, then just simply filling it with the treatment water will be fine. Most often a prolonged period of time is set up in an actual aquarium or in a clear, plastic bin so you can observe for any signs of stress. If it is a simple dip and go procedure, then just setting it up in a 5 gallon bucket works fine. There really isn't much to it, you just need to assess the procedure for the treatment.

[kfowler]

A quick tip on cutting 6" PVC safely that I found works well. If you have a workbench that opens and closes in the middle, open it to about a 3-4 inch gap. I then placed a towel on top of the bench to keep the PVC from slipping or scratching.

For cutting the right height:
Place your PVC on the bench so that it lays in the gap. It should stay put but you should still be able to turn it like a wheel. Take a jig saw and start cutting along your line. Use your other hand to start spinning the PVC along the cut line. You should be able to do this while keeping the jig saw stationary. I found the jig saw to cut slow enough to be very stable and easy to handle.

I also used the jig saw to cut the PVC in half. Very easy and safe.

For cutting the overflow grooves, I did use my table saw since the saw blade was the right thickness. The jig saw blade was too thin. You should be far enough from the table saw that your hands would be in no danger. The only downside is the cuts have a slope in them since the saw is curved. Kind of looks cool though.

[Travis L. Stevens]

Step 3: Choosing a Cleanup Crew

Now that we have the fundamentals of Quarantine and Hospital Tanks taken care of, we can finally look into getting a cleanup crew organized and placed into Quarantine. After their Quarantine period, the tank should be cycled and ready to go to work. But first, we need to understand how the Cleanup Crew can work to your advantage.

Fundamentals of a Cleanup Crew
Understanding the Service Provided by Creatures
Location
--Rocks
--Substrate
--Walls and Structures
Food Preference
--Meat
--Algae
--Combination
Overview of Common Main Body Cleanup Crew Options
Crabs
--Blue Legged Hermit Crabs
--Red Legged Hermit Crabs
--Scarlet Hermit Crabs
--Dwarf Zebra Hermit Crabs
Snails
--Astrea Snails
--Trochus Snails
--Turbo Snails
--Cerith Snails
--Nassarius Snails
--Margarita Snails
--Nerite Snails
--Ilyanassa Snails
Overview of Common Backup Cleanup Crew Options
Crabs
--Emerald Crabs
--Arrow Crabs
--Sally Lightfoot Crabs
Sea Cucumbers
--Tiger Tail Cucumber
--Yellow Cucumber
Nudibranchs
--Lettuce Nudibranch
--Sea Hare
Starfish
--Brittle Star
--Sand Sifting Starfish
--Serpent Star
Shrimp
--Cleaner Shrimp
--Peppermint Shrimp
--Blood Shrimp
--Coral Banded Shrimp
Snails
--Bumble Bee Snail
--Cowrie
--Limpet
--Abalone
--Scutus
--Conch
Urchins
--Long Spined Urchin
--Pencil Urchin
--Pin Cushion Urchin
Words of Wisdom

[Travis L. Stevens]

Step 3: Choosing a Cleanup Crew (Continued)


Fundamentals of a Cleanup Crew

Quite simply, the fundamental of a cleanup crew is to eat left over food, take care of dead and dying animals that you cannot get to, and to keep algae growth under control. It sounds really easy, but there is a delicate balance between too large of a cleanup crew and too little of a cleanup crew. With a cleanup crew too large, many of the animals will starve to death, or find alternative food sources such as desired livestock. With a cleanup crew too small, the extra nutrients in the tank from leftover organic matter will cause algae to grow, and then none of the crew will be able to take care of the organic matter or the algae growth associated with it. So, take special consideration on what you would like to have in your tank. Now let's take a look at how a cleanup crew works.

Think of a cleanup crew like an army battling the evil algae and nutrients. Quite simply, there are a few various strategic units that you need to fill in order to win the war. First, there are is your Light Troops. These guys are versatile, adaptable, capable, quick, and numerous. They are placed on the front line of battle in order to take care of the bulk of the dirty work. Then, there is your Medium Troops. These guys are normally large, not very quick, and often specialize. They can take down larger enemies more effectively. Lastly, there is your Heavy Troops. These guys take out massive amounts of the enemy, but are often, large, slow, demanding, specialized, and more.

It might seem like all fun and games at this point, but it isn't. It's a very serious issue. Now that you have the general basics in mind, you now have to use some more real life issues. Just like in any military force, the army has to be funded, fed, clothed, armed, etc. You and your tank often are the providers for your army. In order to be a successful provider, you need to look at your tank. Most likely you will find yourself being able to keep a fair amount of Light Troops, and a few Medium Troops. But if you are attempting to keep any Heavy Troops, you really need to understand what they need in order to live long term in order to keep helping you out. If you can provide for all these different troops infinitely yet still be able to win the war, then you will be successful.

This may seem like a crude reconstruction of a thought process for Cleanup Crews, but keeping this in mind will help you be successful with your tank.

[Travis L. Stevens]

Step 3: Choosing a Cleanup Crew (Continued)


Understanding the Service Provided by Creatures

Once again, we will compare the Cleanup Crew to an army. We now understand the structure of a Cleanup Crew, but we need to take a closer look at how they work. Just like any army, they have units that specialize to an environment best suited for them. For example, there are amphibious, airborn, jungle, desert, etc divisions in an army. As well as these divisions, some of these specialize at what they do such as demolitions, heavy artillery, and so on. The creatures in your cleanup crew are no different. Each animal has a prefered place and a prefered item that it likes. After all, you can't expect an Artic Commando to crawl through caves in the desert. The same holds through for your Cleanup Crew.

Lets take a look at the general preferences available to most animals.

Cleaning Location
This is the prefered area where an animal lives and searches for food. Occassionally animals will inhabit more than one area.

Rocks
Rocks are simply just that. These animals live, breed, and eat on the live rock. They manage to find their lives best suited here and often use the rock as a source of shelter as well.

Substrate
Substrate is slightly more tricky because of all the different types. Most of the animals that prefer to live in the substrate prefer sand in order to dig and bury themselves in. Using a rougher form of substrate can hinder their ability to perform their duties.

Walls and Structures
These animals don't often actually prefer this area, but are found quite often along the tank walls and other man made structures such as overflows and pipes.

Food Preference
Each animal also has a prefered food source. There are many different food sources available to animals in our captive system, but it's easier to break it down in to three categories.

Meat
Things like left over food, dead carcasses, fauna, and so on would classify as a "Meat" food source.

Algae
Things like Hair Algae, Macroalgae, Diatoms, Dinoflagellates, Cyanobacteria, and so on would fall under the "Algae" category.

Combination
Some animals prefer some of both of these categories. It's difficult to narrow these down to any one prefered category, and often some of these animals will take up eating in another category because of lack of food.

[Travis L. Stevens]

Step 3: Choosing a Cleanup Crew (Continued)


Overview of Common Main Body Cleanup Crew Options
These are your typical critters that you find inhabiting almost everyones tanks as their Cleanup Crew. You will see that some are more effective at cleaning than others. Making a well educated choice on the main body of your Cleanup Crew is crucial.

______________________________________

Crabs
Crabs, especially hermit crabs, are your typical light troops for help cleaning meaty items out from the nooks and crannies of your tank.

Blue Legged Hermit Crabs
Blue Legged Hermit Crabs are very common and cheap for aquarists. They are little crabs with blue legs and equal sized, black claws.
Cleaning Location: Mainly Rocks. Occassionally substrate.
Prefered Food: Meaty food when available. Algae in between available meaty food.
Effectiveness: Moderate
Notes: Can be very aggressive. They have been known to eat snails and other hermits for food and shells.

Red Legged Hermit Crabs
Red Legged Hermit Crabs are fairly common and moderately priced. They have red legs and equal sized, red claws.
Cleaning Location: Mainly Rocks. Occassionally substrate.
Prefered Food: Meaty food when available. Algae in between available meaty foods.
Effectiveness: Moderate
Notes: Moderately aggressive. Has been noted to steal shells from snails and other hermits.

Scarlet Hermit Crabs
Scarlet Reef Hermit Crabs are similar to Red Legged Hermit Crabs. They are failry common and reasonably inexpensive. They have red legs, yellow eye stalks, and equal sized, red claws.
Cleaning Location: Mainly Rocks. Occassionally substrate.
Prefered Food: Meaty foods when available. Algae in between available meaty foods.
Effectiveness: Moderate
Notes: One of the more peaceful of the Hermit Crabs, but like all crabs they are opportunistic feeders

Dwarf Zebra Hermit Crabs
Dwarf Zebra Hermit Crabs are fairly common and quite cheap. They have black and white striped legs and a dominant claw on the left side.
Cleaning Location: Mainly rocks. Occassionally substrate.
Prefered Food: Meaty foods when available. Algae in between available meaty foods.
Effectiveness: Moderate
Notes: Can be very aggressive. Is known to eat snails and other hermits and take their shells.


Snails
Snails are typically your light troop force against the war on nuisance algae. Most snails prefer new growth over old growth because of tenderness and normally less toxic chemicals are found within it.

Astrea Snails
Astrea snails are common and very cheap. They have a cone shaped, upright shell with a round operculum. Occassionally their shells will form small bumps or spikes.
Cleaning Location: Rocks and Glass
Prefered Food: Film-Forming Algae. Will graze on more filamentous algae.
Effectiveness: Moderate to high.
Notes: They tend to be rather slow and diligent in their cleaning. If they fall on their back, they cannot right themselves unless they are lucky enough to have fallen close to something that they can cling on to to aid them. Often when they fall on their backs, they are preyed upon by others in their vulnerable state.

Trochus Snails
Trochus Snails are failry common and moderately cheap. They have conical, upright shells that are normally smooth.
Cleaning Location: Rocks and Glass
Prefered Food: Film and Filamentous Algae.
Effectiveness: Moderate to high.
Notes: These tend to grow rather large. The bigger they are, the more area they can cover. They are rather powerful and can knock down small objects.

Turbo Snails
Turbo Snails are common and moderately priced. They have more of a rounded shell.
Cleaning Location: Rocks and Glass
Prefered Food: Algae
Effectiveness: High
Notes: In addition to their wide variety of consumed algae, they can also get rather large. They are very powerful and occassionally clumsy. Some species available in the aquarium trade come from cooler, temperate waters and are not very capable of withstanding the temperatures of a typical marine aquarium.

Cerith Snails
Cerith Snails are quite common and moderately cheap. They have a conical, spiralled shell often with a fine checkered/spotted, greyish pattern on them.
Cleaning Location: Sand. Occassionally rocks and glass.
Prefered Food: Film algae and other things that grow on the surface of the sand.
Effectiveness: Moderate
Notes: While not the greatest snail for what it does, it is cheap, easily available, does well in captive environments and is also known to reproduce successfully.

Nassarius Snails
Nassarius Snails are moderately common and a decent price. They have a conical, spiralled shell that is normally an off white color and little nodules that grow around the spiral.
Cleaning Location: Sand. Rarely rock and glass.
Prefered Food: Meaty. Will occassionally it film algae.
Effectiveness: Moderate to high.
Notes: They often sift through the sand picking up little morsels or cruise a little of the glass for some easy picking algae, but when food is introduced into the tank, they take action and quickly track down any uneaten food.

Margarita Snails
Margarita Snails are somewhat common and decently priced. They have a rounded, upright shell like a turbo. They are often blackish in color with the tip of the shell showing exposed mother of pearl.
Cleaning Location: Mainly Rocks and Glass
Prefered Food: Film Algae and occassionally filamentous algae
Effectiveness: Moderate
Notes: These are decent members of the Cleanup Crew, but come from cooler, temperate waters. They often don't survive long in the typical marine aquarium.

Nerite Snails
Nerite Snails aren't very common and can fetch a moderate price. They have rounded shells and come in a variety of colors.
Cleaning Location: Mainly Rocks and Glass
Prefered Food: Film algae and some filamentous algae.
Effectiveness: Moderate
Notes: Most of these come from temperate waters. Most are also intertidal and will crawl out of your tank.

Ilyanassa Snails
Ilyanassa Snails are moderately common and somewhat cheap. They have conical spiral shells that are often black in color.
Cleaning Location: Mainly substrate. Occassionally rocks and glass.
Prefered Food: Meaty food. Will take advantage of available film algae.
Effectiveness: Moderate to high.
Notes: These come from temperate waters and don't often do well in typical marine tanks. They often sift through the sand picking up little morsels or cruise a little of the glass for some easy picking algae, but when food is introduced into the tank, they take action and quickly track down any uneaten food.