Keeping my Refugium Cleaner?

[Eb0la11]

Hmmmm, so looks like Im getting mixed opinions on this.

My understanding of a DSB was to leave it be with low flow for its benefits, and therefore my refugium has a very slow water turnover rate in comparison to the DT.

I have 1-2 little crabs in there, just hitchhiker ones, but they arent cleaning much. I also have quite a few stomatellas that naturally have appeared in there along with tons of pods.

I dont want to disturb the pod growth with anything I introduce into the refugium because I have a mandarin that relies on them in the DT.

I do have chaeto growing in there and a few pieces of LR and also some rubble. The chaeto is held back with a baffle, so there is a somewhat open area for the rock and also some new mangrove pods Ive put in there about a month ago.

With all that said, I am not sure if a fish wouldnt do the best job cleaning it, but at the same time itd disturb the DSB quite a bit. Would snails do the job? Maybe I should put another crab or two in there? Blue Leg hermits?

[naesco]

Originally Posted by Eb0la11

Hmmmm, so looks like Im getting mixed opinions on this.

My understanding of a DSB was to leave it be with low flow for its benefits, and therefore my refugium has a very slow water turnover rate in comparison to the DT.

I have 1-2 little crabs in there, just hitchhiker ones, but they arent cleaning much. I also have quite a few stomatellas that naturally have appeared in there along with tons of pods.

I dont want to disturb the pod growth with anything I introduce into the refugium because I have a mandarin that relies on them in the DT.

I do have chaeto growing in there and a few pieces of LR and also some rubble. The chaeto is held back with a baffle, so there is a somewhat open area for the rock and also some new mangrove pods Ive put in there about a month ago.

With all that said, I am not sure if a fish wouldnt do the best job cleaning it, but at the same time itd disturb the DSB quite a bit. Would snails do the job? Maybe I should put another crab or two in there? Blue Leg hermits?

I take it you have a Deep Sand Bed (DSB) in your tank as well as the Refugium. Do not put anything in the refugium that eats the good critters (snails are fine unless they are bumblebee snails which are predators) otherwise it defeats the purpose of the refugium which is a refuge for these critters. Remove the crabs from the refugium and put them in your sump.
Do not add hermits to the refugium. BTW hermits are not a good choice for the main tank either because they are predators and compete with other fish and inverts for food. One or two in the main tank is no problem as they will do little damage and are interesting to watch.