Cleanup Crew

[BigC]

It's somewhat important to try and keep a balanced crew in there...wall cleaners, rock grazers, sand sifters, detritus eaters. Etc/ SH

Above quote taken from another post.

I have a Juwel Rekord 70 tank, could the members suggest a cleanup crew that are very commonly available and meet the criteria below.

1. Wall Cleaners, Latin name - Common name, how many and what price do they command ea.
2. Rock grazers, again as above
3. Sand Sifters, as above
4, Detritus Eaters, again as above.
Basically I'm looking for a balanced stocking level of the above given the size of tank.
Can you also advise me as to what my ideal pH reading should be.

Are there any compatability problems that I should be aware off when keeping these with other tank inhabitants such as fans etc.
Newbie sorry for the volume of questions....thirsty for more knowledge.
Regards
BigC

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, I'm not grait on full latin names, so I'll just have to suggest common names

1. Snails. Turbo snails, Nassarius Snails, Astrea Snails Somewhere around 3 of each
2. Snails (same as above) and Hermit crabs. Scarlet Reef (red legged) and blue legged hermits. Probably 2 red legs and 4 blues.
3. Hermits as above. Optionally you could add a sand sifting goby or a mythrax crab.
4. The best detritus eaters are starfish, but in a tank that small I doubt you should employ one... Perhaps a bristlestart, but even that might not survive in your tank, I'd wait for other nano users' oppinions on that one

 

[Aquascaper]

Wall Cleaners:
Abalone (Haliotis sp.), Astraea (Astraea tecta), Bumble Bee Snail (Pusiostoma sp.), Cerith (Cerithium altratum), Chiton (Cryptochiton sp.), Cowrie (Cypraea sp.), Margarita Snail (Margarites pupillus), Nassarius (Nassarius vibex), Nerite (Nerita lineata), Paper Bubble Shell (Bulla gouldiana), Trochus (Trochus niloticus), Turbo (Turbo fluctuosa)

Rock Grazers
Astraea (Astraea tecta), Blue Leg Hermits (Clibanarius tricolor), Chiton (Cryptochiton sp.), Dwarf Blue Leg Hermits (Clibanarius tricolor), Dwarf Zebra Hermits (Calcinus laevimanus), Electric Blue Hermit Crab
(Calcinus elegans), Electric Orange Hermit Crab (Calcinus sp.), Emerald Mithrax Crab (Mithrax sculptus), Halloween Hermits (Ciliopagurus strigatus), Mexican Red leg Hermits (Clibanarius digueti), Scarlet Reef Hermits (Paguristes cadenanti), Tiger Tail (Holothuria sp.), Turbo (Turbo sp.)

Sand Sifters
Bristleworms (Amphinomidae sp.), Cerith (Cerithium altratum), Nassarius (Nassarius vibex), Sand Sifting Gobies (see www.liveaquaria.com), Sand Sifting Starfish (Astropecten polycanthus), Wrasses (see www.liveaquaria.com)

Detritus Eaters
Bristleworms (Amphinomidae sp.), Brittle Sea Star (Ophiothrix sp.), Brittle Star (Ophiura sp.), Emerald Mithrax Crab (Mithrax sculptus), Pacific Conch (Strombus sp.), Serpent Star (Ophiocoma sp.), Serpent Star (Ophioderma sp.), Serpent Star (Ophiolepsis sp.), Tiger Tail (Holothuria sp.), Tongan Fighting Conch (Strombus gibberulus)

This is a basic list of the most common cleanup crews available (inc. a few fish), there is lots more available in different countries and is by no means finite. Not all of these are suitable for every tank so research into each invert is required to confirm its suitability for each individual aquarium.
Research will also confim the suitability between each invert when placed in the aquarium together.

 

[steelhealr]

Nothing to add...well posted. SH

 

[Donya]

Bumble Bee Snail (Pusiostoma sp.)

Bumblebee snails will go after other small snails and inverts under some circumstances. I would not keep them with Nerites...one store near me combined the two and the result was empty Nerite shells and a bunch of well-fed Bumblebees. I wouldn't put one of those in a tank that is stocked with grazing snails smaller than the Bumblebees.