Clean up crews?

[dustinjm]

Recently started a 34g Red Sea Max tank and have purchased 10 turbo snails. Can anyone give me some ideas on what else to buy and if there is a "rule of thumb" as to how many of each I should have.

[Myka]

Holy wowzers!! You bought too many. I would think that 5 or 6 would be plenty to keep your tank clean. Turbo snails are a pain in the butt if you plan on adding corals as they are "bulldozers" and knock corals off. I got rid of my three Turbos when I got tired of fallen corals. Generally, a variety of snails is the best bet. My favourites are Astraea and Stomatella. Some people like hermits, but I prefer shrimp to hermits. Hermits will kill snails if they get hungry or if they want to steal their shell. A shrimp or two would be a good addition. The best thing to do is add just a few critters, wait a month and see if they keep up to the algae or not. If they don't, add a few more and wait another month.

In my 33g I have 3 Astraea, 1 Cerith, 3 Nassarius, 1 Peppermint shrimp, 1 Cleaner shrimp, and about a dozen adult Stomatella snails. The Stomatellas breed in the tank, and they keep their population even with the amount of algae being produced. If I notice a bloom in Stomatellas then I know I'm over-feeding or not doing enough water changes.

[fiorano]

for my cleaning crew i have about 40 snails ( i need more tho) and 35 hermits 4 cleaner shrimp 2 conch's 1 sea cucumber 1 sand sifting star and ... im pretty sure thats it. but i sort of wish i never got my hermits there kind of a pain you can get shrimp and brittle stars and things like that that do the same thing but dont kill other things... btw my tank is 125g so its a little bit bigger than yours lol so your cleaning crew wont have to be that big