Recommendations For Cuc

[exsarg]

My cycle well under way. 24gal Aquapod, 19x13 inch space, LR occuppies 70% of area, sand 1 - 2" deep, would appreciate CUC ideas so I can start looking, only plan on my LR maybe 2 fish and soft corals later on when my ship comes in. Sure would be helpful to know CUC that is needed and the ones there for some show.

Thanks much

exsarg


I can't read this but hope you can!
I have AMD.

 

[Colin_T]

small hermit crabs, most shrimp except mantis shrimp and reef lobsters because mantis eat things and reef lobsters get too big. Red line or skunk cleaner shrimp & banded coral shrimp will add to visual appeal but you need to set up a ledge facing the front of the tank for them to hide under. Otherwise they hide behind the rocks at the back. Trochis or turbin snails are good. Red linkia starfish and small blue linkia starfish are pretty cool too as are brittle stars which quite often come in on live rock.

 

[tropicalwaters]

I have recently added a skunk cleaner to my setup ( i made sure my nitatre is under 10) I ordered off ebay ( i know a risk..) a CUC. The crew will consist of 20 nassarius
15 cerith
10 limpets
15 zigzag periwinkles ( dont know much about these)
10 dwarf planaxis snails

i added an extra 15 nassarius and extra 15 ceriths. I decided to order online because my lfs charges $5 a snail for nassarius and $ 3 a snail for ceriths...
I am also planning on adding 2 more skunk cleaner shrimp ( they are really fun to watch), some miniature brittle stars later one. I dont think I would order a CBS because they may attack your fish while sleeping

oh, i also added 1 blue legged hermit and 1 red leged hermit. Reason for this is because i wanted to try them myself because of so many mixed review. The blue legged never does anything ( i actually have to check if he is alivee) and the red legged a bit more but not much. Ii would get them small IMO.

 

[Musho3210]

jesus thats a large cleanup crew for that size tank.... Dont be surprised if some of them die of starvation, or maybe you get lucky and they all turn out perfectly fine.

Its always a good idea to get a little at a time. And i would buy from the lfs if i were you.

 

[steelhealr]

http/www.fishforums.net/content/Nano-Ree...For-Nano-Tanks/

Check numbers 6, 7, 8

SH

 

[n3ont3tra]

Yeah thats a lot...

Most cleanup crews have astrea or turbo snails, cerith snails, nassarius snails, and nerite snails. Some people have crabs, some don't. I personally have never had a problem with my hermit crabs or emerald crab, and I have scarlet hermits and white tip hermits. I also have a fighting conch which is GREAT for diatoms. He eats all of it. I had a serpent starfish as well and they are good scavengers. I would avoid linkias, stick to brittle stars or serpent stars.

I wouldn't consider shrimp part of the clean up crew, mine just hung out under a rock all day.

Some things to avoid are margarita crabs (not tropical), mexican turbos (not tropical), coral banded shrimp (in a small tank they might ambush small fish), and crabs other than hermits and emeralds (like arrow crabs)

Also, it's important to know what eat animal eats...
In my experience:
astrea - mostly hair algae - rocks/glass
turbo - mostly hair algae - rocks/glass
cerith - mostly stuff off the glass
nassarius - only come put when I feed, but they get everything
nerite - mostly off the glass
hermits - they pretty much eat everything, but they prefer meat
emerald crab - hair and bubble algae from the rocks

Those are just my experiences, some people might have snails that eat something else....

 

[Musho3210]

i agree with n3on, but get crabs as a caution, sometimes they work, and when they do work they are a great addition, sometimes they dont work (eat stuff you dont want them to eat) and then you will do anything to get rid of them.

 

[tropicalwaters]

yeah, it is alot but I have ALOT of algae! I figured if they get all of it i will just add some seaweed. My tank also get some indirect sunligth, so it adds to the problem. As for buying for the lfs i dont want to spend $ 200 + on a CUC, if i lose all the ones from online thats just a small loss.

 

[CageUK]

In our 58ltr Orca we had 2 nerites, 2 turbos and 2 sand sifting snails. We also had 5 blue knuckled crabs and a skunk cleaner shrimp.

The guys all got to work once we put them in and made a significant difference in a very short space of time.

Since then, and since we have added some polyps and xenia we have found that the shrimp can be a real pain in the A&*£. He rides roughshod over everything and causes the polyps and xenia to retract on a regular basis and goes absolutely loopy whenever food is put into the tank stealing the majority for himself.

The crabs are much slower and don't do the stealing thing so much but still go marching across the xenia and over turning the polyp frags without a care.

I've read that Blue Legged Snails (as opposed to blue knuckled) can be quite willing to munch on your other tank inhabitants (snails, corals etc) and I seem to remember a similar negative to red legs but like everything there is lots of conflicting info and exceptions to the rules. Our blue knuckles have never touched a living occupant but quite often pick their way through the xenias searching for food.

They all piled into the nerite snail which I was quite dismayed at, but on further inspection I am certain that the snail was already dead and they were merely picking over the bones so to speak.

The sand sifters aren't seen much except at lunchtimes when they signal their presence with a periscope then come to the surface and proceed to race around looking for food. They are quite interesting little snails when you can see them but this isn't very much.

I'm glad we decided not to have 2 shrimps as we were originally thinking of but I'm happy with what we have. On balance the crabs and shrimp do add life, colour and interest to the tank and it's nice to have the variety, just don't overdo it.

We have since lost 1 of the nerites but won't replace it with another as I didn't find the nerites did very much.

I have found that our crew was about the right size but maybe a couple of extra snails would complete it.

Cheers

Mark

Cheers

 

[Musho3210]

yeah, it is alot but I have ALOT of algae! I figured if they get all of it i will just add some seaweed. My tank also get some indirect sunligth, so it adds to the problem. As for buying for the lfs i dont want to spend $ 200 + on a CUC, if i lose all the ones from online thats just a small loss.

first, thats a terrible attitude, second, buying from a lfs is a longterm investment since almost all lfs's i know of give huge discounts for regular customers, thus, making it even cheaper than buying online

 

[tropicalwaters]

Well, I guess you are lucky because I have never gotten a dicount nor does anyone else that I know of that shops at my lfs. Second, lose a $200 + CUC or a $80 CUC??? MHHHHH well, I would rather not lose any, but if it comes to it thats not a terrible attitude but a practical one. The post was for recomendation, I posted what i tougth was good, I myself was recommended 2-3 snails per gallon.

 

[n3ont3tra]

I have recently added a skunk cleaner to my setup ( i made sure my nitatre is under 10) I ordered off ebay ( i know a risk..) a CUC. The crew will consist of 20 nassarius
15 cerith
10 limpets
15 zigzag periwinkles ( dont know much about these)
10 dwarf planaxis snails

i added an extra 15 nassarius and extra 15 ceriths. I decided to order online because my lfs charges $5 a snail for nassarius and $ 3 a snail for ceriths...
I am also planning on adding 2 more skunk cleaner shrimp ( they are really fun to watch), some miniature brittle stars later one. I dont think I would order a CBS because they may attack your fish while sleeping

oh, i also added 1 blue legged hermit and 1 red leged hermit. Reason for this is because i wanted to try them myself because of so many mixed review. The blue legged never does anything ( i actually have to check if he is alivee) and the red legged a bit more but not much. Ii would get them small IMO.

You KNOW eBay is a risk. What would have happened if they scammed you or something? You'd have lost $80. You also added EXTRA nassarius and EXTRA ceriths. Why? I don't think it's ethical to get extra living things, do you? Also, you bought some animals that you don't know much about... you have plenty of time to research these things before you buy, but you still bought something that you don't know about???

Well, I guess you are lucky because I have never gotten a dicount nor does anyone else that I know of that shops at my lfs. Second, lose a $200 + CUC or a $80 CUC??? MHHHHH well, I would rather not lose any, but if it comes to it thats not a terrible attitude but a practical one. The post was for recomendation, I posted what i tougth was good, I myself was recommended 2-3 snails per gallon.

Well first off, you knew eBay was a risk, you said it yourself. Second, I don't think it's practical to buy things that you don't know anything about that you also know might die anyway. Third - how long have you had these animals in your tank?

I'm sorry but I don't think your argument is very good...

 

[tropicalwaters]

"I'm sorry but I don't think your argument is very good... "

- what is this a debate class??
- I have not received the snails yet, store takes a while to ship. Also, i got extra snails because i wanted extra snails. Also, I did not realize this forum was a place to pass judgment, especially since I take care of all my pets very well and do plenty of research to make sure they thrive. Just because i dont know every single thing about a snail before i buy it does not mean i dont know anything about them. Also, a couple extra snails in the tank is not something for people to freak out after, why don't you freak out on people that have 10 fish in a nano???
- IMO the forum is to give advice and gain experience, not to judge people on how many snails they get

 

[BigC]

OK Guys,
Cool it!

 

[@ombomb]

- IMO the forum is to give advice and gain experience, not to judge people on how many snails they get crazy.gif

true, although you need to remember that A that advice is given freely, generally by people who have experience in keeping a nano (in this part of the forum anyway) and B it will not always be the advice you want