Help With a CUC!

[lkgrenegade22]

Ok guys I want some input on a CUC for my 72G tank. It's a FOWLR tank and I do not want ANY crabs. I have already come to the conclusion they are headaches. So what would an ideal CUC be for a 72G tank with a high bioload?
Right now I have 15 large Mexican turbos and I just ordered 30 small Nassarius snails.

 

[t316]

The nassarius will be a great addition....

I had a cucumber a while back, but traded him in after reading about all of the toxins that some of them can cause if they get sick or die. Currently, my best CUC member is a fish....a diamond goby. He keeps the sand sifted, brown algea gone, and he's a fish so he's cool to watch. Other ideas, I have 2 serpant star fish. They stay hidden most all the time, but let some excess food fall down, and the arms come out to clean up immediately.

 

[ilovemytank]

Originally Posted by T316
http:///forum/post/2901260
The nassarius will be a great addition....

I had a cucumber a while back, but traded him in after reading about all of the toxins that some of them can cause if they get sick or die. Currently, my best CUC member is a fish....a diamond goby. He keeps the sand sifted, brown algea gone, and he's a fish so he's cool to watch. Other ideas, I have 2 serpant star fish. They stay hidden most all the time, but let some excess food fall down, and the arms come out to clean up immediately.
I'm just starting to look into getting a cucumber. Please correct me ( anyone !) if I'm wrong but I think most of the common cucumbers don't have enough toxins to kill or harm any fish. I think its most of the colorfull snails. Maybe there is some cucumbers that are poisoness but none of the common ones. Please someone chime in on this because I don't want them if they do !

 

[t316]

Originally Posted by Ilovemytank
http:///forum/post/2901269
I'm just starting to look into getting a cucumber. Please correct me ( anyone !) if I'm wrong but I think most of the common cucumbers don't have enough toxins to kill or harm any fish. I think its most of the colorfull snails. Maybe there is some cucumbers that are poisoness but none of the common ones. Please someone chime in on this because I don't want them if they do !
Ooooohhhh my gosh....I bought mine first, then found some of the horror stories on here. Do a search. There is one on here somewhere, from the past year or two, where the cucumber nuked the whole freakin' tank. You are correct, "most" don't have this potential, but it is unclear as to which one's do. Most believe that it is the very bright colored ones, such as the pink, etc, but still there is no way of knowing. Mine was a greenish brown, nothing special, but it just wasn't worth the risk after reading some of those stories from real people on here.

 

[lkgrenegade22]

I was going to order a cucumber also but when I couldn't figure out which ones were which I just nixxed the idea. Not worth the risk to me.
As far as a diamond goby I had one and he jumped. I have a pink/blue spotted shrimp goby that has started sifting so I am going to see how he does for now.
I was thinking about getting 2 sand sifting stars. Do they keep the bed tilled up?

 

[t316]

I'm not sure about the sand sifting stars, although I love starfish. I really like the Red General and the Chocolate Chip, but those two are not reef/coral safe. I have heard mixed reviews about starfish in general, so I have steered away from them. But I believe the sand sifting star is listed as being reef safe, but check on that and don't take my word here.

 

[lkgrenegade22]

Well if I get any stars it is a FOWLR tank and no corals will ever be in there so reef safe really isn't a big deal.

 

[pete159]

why are you so anti crab?... blue leg and red leg crabs are great..... just dump a bunch of empty shells of various sizes so they can grow into them. Little crabs make a great part of a CUC

 

[lkgrenegade22]

Originally Posted by pete159
http:///forum/post/2901366
why are you so anti crab?... blue leg and red leg crabs are great..... just dump a bunch of empty shells of various sizes so they can grow into them. Little crabs make a great part of a CUC
Well I had some larger hermits and besides killing fish they were always causing trouble...I guess some much smaller hermits would suffice. Emphasis on MUCH smaller!

 

[trouble93]

Originally Posted by Ilovemytank
http:///forum/post/2901269
I'm just starting to look into getting a cucumber. Please correct me ( anyone !) if I'm wrong but I think most of the common cucumbers don't have enough toxins to kill or harm any fish. I think its most of the colorfull snails. Maybe there is some cucumbers that are poisoness but none of the common ones. Please someone chime in on this because I don't want them if they do !
Ohio U. did a study this Summer on cucumbers...They set up 3 50gal tank, tank 1 had a 3in. sand bed tank 2 had a 7in. sand bed tank 3 hand a 12in. sand bed. At first the study was to watch the berrowing habits, but low and behole all 3 died. The one in tank 1 killed everything (3 damsels) tank 2 1 out of 3 died and tank 3 all 3 fish lived. We have to keep in mind these tanks where not setup like ours they had on live rock and a standard hang on back filter. So the deeper the sand bed the better chance you have if something was to happen.

 

[t316]

Agree, I have around 20-30 blue legged hermits, but I just recently sold a 55 gal. and I sent the larger blue legged's out with that. Once they get bigger (talking about the size of a quarter) mine were killing the snails every time they wanted a snack. The smaller (pencil eraser size) one's, are no problem. They do pick at the rocks, but other than that, I don't see a whole lot that they have accomplished.

 

[lkgrenegade22]

Originally Posted by T316
http:///forum/post/2901374
Agree, I have around 20-30 blue legged hermits, but I just recently sold a 55 gal. and I sent the larger blue legged's out with that. Once they get bigger (talking about the size of a quarter) mine were killing the snails every time they wanted a snack. The smaller (pencil eraser size) one's, are no problem. They do pick at the rocks, but other than that, I don't see a whole lot that they have accomplished.
Well mine were all toting around 2" shells so you can see how big they were. They killed a few fish and killed a few huge mexican turbos. I might get some smaller hermits, I'm just not sure if the little tiny ones can provide much of a clean up service?

 

[t316]

Originally Posted by LKGRenegade22
http:///forum/post/2901378
Well mine were all toting around 2" shells so you can see how big they were. They killed a few fish and killed a few huge mexican turbos. I might get some smaller hermits, I'm just not sure if the little tiny ones can provide much of a clean up service?
Yes, IMO, the 2" hermits can kill snails and other things when they get hungry or are looking for a bigger shell. I still like all of my small one's, as they are cool to watch, add diversity to the tank, and there are plenty of bigger shells in there for them to move into.

 

[lkgrenegade22]

Originally Posted by T316
http:///forum/post/2901383
Yes, IMO, the 2" hermits can kill snails and other things when they get hungry or are looking for a bigger shell. I still like all of my small one's, as they are cool to watch, add diversity to the tank, and there are plenty of bigger shells in there for them to move into.
What I may do then is order 10 of each of the colors so I have a mix. I just know the big hermits are MAJOR problems in almost any tank...

 

[kas2247]

I had blue & red leg and 20-30 snails. None of the hermits were very big. Maybe 1/2" max. Over the course of a few months the hermits killed every one of the snails. There were lots of shells for them to move into, but they didn't care. I just ordered 10 more bluelegs, but they are going in my sump where there's nothing more than live rock, sand & algae. The new snails will go in the display.

 

[lkgrenegade22]

Originally Posted by kas2247
http:///forum/post/2901972
I had blue & red leg and 20-30 snails. None of the hermits were very big. Maybe 1/2" max. Over the course of a few months the hermits killed every one of the snails. There were lots of shells for them to move into, but they didn't care. I just ordered 10 more bluelegs, but they are going in my sump where there's nothing more than live rock, sand & algae. The new snails will go in the display.
This is why I am so anti-crab.