JL Reef Custodian packages
 

Are these packages really the proper number of hermits/snails needed?

70-90G package has 70 hermits and 60 snails... I don't think I have seen anyones tank that has that type of CUC.. thats 1hermit/snail per gallon.. Seem excessive???

I have had bad experiences with a high number of hermits. If the tank has less for them to eat they eat the snails and get a new home :cry:

I like just a few crabs and alot of snails myself. For a 70 I would think 15 Hermits and 55 snails of different varieties

I agree with Matthew N on all points and have had similiar experiences. I'd also recommend some cleaner shrimp for help on the clean up crew, if you are able to. They are awesome in my tank for eating food that gets to the bottom.

Any LFS is going to try and sell you more than you need.
That 1 hermit/1 snail per gallon is old school...

I think hermits are more of a pain than really any good, I think from my own limited experience that half of that is more than adequate.

I have a 72 bow with maybe 6 hermits, 20 Nassarius, 10 Margherita, 10 Astraea and a couple of massive turbos.

They do just fine for me.

Yeah I agree, I always aim for less of the hermits. And I always request extra empty shells for them so they don't kill the snails (J&L will be happy to provide). 1 snail per gallon is good in a healthy reef. If its a new tank I would get a package recommended for half the tank size and then add more snails later. :)

The aquarist is the tank's best clean up crew...

I would think the opposite?
I had pretty serious algae when my tank was 1 to 6 months old but very little now?
I bought a lot of snails to begin with and they seem to have decreased their population (with left handed hermit help, regardless of the myriad of empty snail shells I had added to combat this) to suit the amount of algae present.

Just out of curiosity, whats the logic behind adding more once a reef is "healthy", assuming by your post that it is not yet?

I think that tank size makes a difference too...
72 snails and 72 hermits would be overbearing in my little 72 bow front.
In a 400 gallon, you might not even notice a comparable number of hermits/snails...

I bought the recommended reef custodian package from J&L for my 28 gallon when I fired it up. I am constantly finding dead hermits and I think I am down to about half of the critters I started with or less. There is lots of algae in the tank of all kinds and yet the hermits seem to prefer killing each other to eating algae.

MOST hermits are useless with Algae, especially if there are other things to eat in the tank like each other.

I like hermits cuz they are funny to watch, but for real natural algae control, go with snails all the way.

Scarlett hermits and Zebra/left handeds seem to be the most interested in greens (scarletts especially) but even they are predatory at times.

Add a couple hertmits, maybe 1 or 2 in a 28 to eat extra food and detritus but other than that, you're wasting money.
IMO of course.

Say you just put live rock in a new tank. Are you going to go out and blow your wad on an excessive number of snails and hermits, with the chance (and a good chance in a new setup) that you are going to loose a good number of them to natural fluctuations within a new and unstable reef environment? Wait a month or two until its all settled out and then add more. This is of course if it is a new tank. And there is nowhere in this thread stating the age of the aquarium, so everything is just speculation. Why it even matters I have no idea.