cheap clean up crew

[cantfunction]

this is my frst tank the cycle just ended and i was wondering where i would get a good priced crew in edmonton. my tank is 70 gallons but i onlru hsve 35 lbs of sand and rock so i should only need like 30-40 snails and crabs right?

[Proteus]

You need a variety IMO. Some say no crabs even emeralds and hermits. But I use both.
As for snails. Nassarius,cerith,asterias are great. Turbos are good but are bull dozers.
Also any snail that's pyrimid shape can have trouble flipping themselves upright and will die without your helping hand. Adding nutrients to tank

A conch and urchin are also benifical.

With the urchin they are herbivores so once algea is gone they should be supplemented with nori. If it starts loosing spines you know it's not doing to good.

[dino]

I would suggest to not get that many to start get 5-10 and see how they do

[Proteus]

Is that 35lbs rock and sand combined

[cantfunction]

Originally Posted by Titus99

Is that 35lbs rock and sand combined

35lbs of live sand and 35lbs of live rock

[Dearth]

CuC is a hot topic as some reefers will never ever have a snail or crab in their tank while others like me love them in my tank

Blue legged and red legged hermit crabs are great at cleaning up detritus and left over food especially between rocks and crevasses and will eat some types of algae but I've found that is hit and miss

Snails will clean the film on your tank glass and detritus off rocks and sand and some will burrow into it and clean in the sand too but again hit and miss

Downside to having smaller CuC in larger tanks is if you have larger fish they can view your guys as snacks.

Cerith and Astreria snails will propagate themselves haven't had much luck with nassarius procreating though.

All the above are relatively cheap per se and I would try 20 or so hermits and 30 assorted snails and go from there

[craigwmiller]

I definitely also enjoy the CUC for more than their cleaning ability. They are great to watch! Narcissus snails come out of the sand like zombies at feeding time. Porcelain crabs filter the water with catcher's mitts and also sift through the surface of the sand. Blue & Red legged hermits are great fun watching as they change shells (dozens of times). The fact that they clean up is secondary for me -- it's more part of having an entire eco system!

(and with a new build in the works, going from a 65 gallon DT to a 210, I'm looking forward to expanding my CUC and having even more neat activity to watch!)

[cantfunction]

Originally Posted by craigwmiller

I definitely also enjoy the CUC for more than their cleaning ability. They are great to watch! Narcissus snails come out of the sand like zombies at feeding time. Porcelain crabs filter the water with catcher's mitts and also sift through the surface of the sand. Blue & Red legged hermits are great fun watching as they change shells (dozens of times). The fact that they clean up is secondary for me -- it's more part of having an entire eco system!

(and with a new build in the works, going from a 65 gallon DT to a 210, I'm looking forward to expanding my CUC and having even more neat activity to watch!)

do you know who has the best prices in edmonton?

[craigwmiller]

I've gotten from many places...

- Most of my snails and smaller crabs have come from Red Coral
- Porcelain crabs from Big Als (they always seem to have hundreds)
- Narcissus snails always seem to be in stock at Marine Aquaria, but some of mine came from Big Als
- Larger fancy blue legs I've gotten from Aquarium Central
- Also a few true Mexican Turbo's from Central


Since you are just finishing cycling (and haven't said exactly how you are cycling), you might not want to rush into toooo many at a time. If, however, you are doing ZEOvit with the 14-day cycle, and you are nearing the last few days (or are into the subsequent week+), go nuts, I did... If you are doing a traditional tank, definitely ease into the CUC no different than you would fish, as they add to your bioload.

Also good to have on hand is extra shells for any hermits to go in and out of (so they don't kill & steal the shells of your snails as often)


Cheers,
Craig

[Dearth]

Originally Posted by cantfunction

do you know who has the best prices in edmonton?

Sorry cant help with that part but unless it is a smaller LFS all the stores charge relatively the same price for their CuC and most should have CuC packages available