Cuc

[Morri]

Firstly I apologise if this is against rules if it is please delete.

But I found this really intresting article about CUC very intresting info about snails (how sad to i sound )

After reading this I may skip the hermits all together but we will see

 

[xxBarneyxx]

No link mate

However based on personal experience I would always pick snails over hermit crabs now. i love watching hermit crabs but snails do a better job as CUC and are not as destructive as some hermits can be.

 

[Morri]

Doh /facepalm

http/www.chucksaddiction.com/cleanupcrew.html

I am thinking urchin + conch + pom poms

Turbos, ceriths and Nass as needed

 

[jtnova13]

meh, interesting read, but i don't agree with everything.

Especially hermit crabs! The bigger ones, maybe, but i'd like to see my little blue legs try to eat a turbo snail!

Also... if he wants to immitate a reef that meticulously, it's survival of the fittest I say. Everything has checks and balances, if a little blue leg hermit is going to eat a baby snail, it's going to eat a baby snail. You didn't buy it and everything has it's strengths and benefits.

 

[wackystarfish]

Intresting, especially the info about the more unusual CUC members you can include, however some bits are wrong / i dont agree with, for example, when they say to put the sand in before the rock (underburrowing will be a possibility) and having 6" of sand, i think its a bit extreme!

 

[jtnova13]

another valid point... the amount of sand should be dependent on the size of your tank.

But in my experience, you won't get a snail (maybe a stomatella) into tiny crevices to eat algae/leftover food there.

 

[Donya]

Good info on snails for the most part. However, the bit on crabs seems like it was written by yet another person who didn't take the time to examine species differences and lumped anything with the common name featuring the word "crab" into the same category. As with many other animals, the careless and/or un-researched choice is highly likely to be a bad one (and many people do make careless, un-researched choices when it comes to hermits and snails alike). Although one can proceed by just writing off several very large groups of animals in exchange for not having to do research, it writes off a lot of interesting and potentially useful additions.

 

[Idlemind]

Very interesting reading, Thanks for posting...
I gotta agrre with the others about not agreeing with the writers opinion on some of the bad crabs and such..
I do think researching anything before you introduce anything into your tank is invaluable

 

[Harry1996]

good bit of info but i think that small hermits are fine in a reef tank.