Thoughts on CUC's
 

i have 24x24x18 cube with 6 snails and 4 regular hermits that are fairly large. i find all they do is knock over corals and mess with the zoos. are they necessary?

Are your corals not mounted? I find snails are an important part of a CUC, hermits, maybe tolerable at best. Both will knock over unmounted coral..

Try it and see. :wink:

to be honest im not big on snails or crabs i find a tank does fine without them, but if i had to choose it def wouldnt be crabs and having them both usually means the crabs are gonna eat the snails for their shells ....eventually:)

i find natural cleaners like bristle worms,brittle stars,pods and other stars are the ideal choice.

shrimp are better and easier to keep track of, same with urchins.

what sort of clean up are you after algae,ditrius,general ?? its best to target an animal to a specific problem or task. just my opinion and what ive found:)