Adding a Cleaning Crew
- Thread starter gmidd
- Start date
30-xtra high
Active Member
you add the cleaning crew right after the cycle. when amonia,nitrites,nitrates.. are all 0, ph is around 8.2, salinity at 1.021-1.026. then you can add your clean up crew, and what may i ask is your ceaning crew going to be?
gmidd
Member
I was thinking for my 30 gallon...
2 Blueleg Hermit Crab (I'm a little reluctant on these due to stories I've heard on the aggresive nature of crabs in general, so I'll do a little more research)
5 to 10 Nasssarius Snail
1 Coral Banded Shrimp or Cleaner Shrimp
5 to 10 Turbo/Astrea Snail
1 Fighting Conch (updated per recommendation)
I am planning on adding a Yellow Head Sleeper Goby a month or so after a Clown fish to help with the sand bed.
2 Blueleg Hermit Crab (I'm a little reluctant on these due to stories I've heard on the aggresive nature of crabs in general, so I'll do a little more research)
5 to 10 Nasssarius Snail
1 Coral Banded Shrimp or Cleaner Shrimp
5 to 10 Turbo/Astrea Snail
1 Fighting Conch (updated per recommendation)
I am planning on adding a Yellow Head Sleeper Goby a month or so after a Clown fish to help with the sand bed.
miamishrip
Member
no queen conch! can get over a foot long! try a tonga fighting conch they dont get more than 4 inches - but 30 gal still may not be enough for one as they require alot of sand to graze and bury themselves.
miamishrip
Member
hermit crabs - imo they dont bother anyone as long as you have plenty of empty shells for them to pick and choose.
jvannis
New Member
Still fairly new to saltwater. My 44 gal FO tank with live rock has been established for well over a year. I have a sand substrate with little shells (I guess this is common) and just 3 fish, a clown, yellow tail damsel, and a yellow tail tang.
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 10
pH 8.0
Just looking for some recommendations on what type of cleaning crew I should be looking for
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 10
pH 8.0
Just looking for some recommendations on what type of cleaning crew I should be looking for
memphis
Member
The blue legs will usually go after each other if there are no empty shells in the tank. I keep a bunch of them and I also threw about 30 empty shells in the tank of various sizes. Now I do have a large hermit and he will take down any snail he can reach even though he is too large for the shell, I guess they just taste good.
gmidd
Member
Originally Posted by miamishrip
no queen conch! can get over a foot long! try a tonga fighting conch they dont get more than 4 inches - but 30 gal still may not be enough for one as they require alot of sand to graze and bury themselves.
Wow! Good to know. I'll go with a Fighting Conch then, SWF recommends 1 per 30 gal. I want something that will get deep in the sand bed for a good cleaning
no queen conch! can get over a foot long! try a tonga fighting conch they dont get more than 4 inches - but 30 gal still may not be enough for one as they require alot of sand to graze and bury themselves.
Wow! Good to know. I'll go with a Fighting Conch then, SWF recommends 1 per 30 gal. I want something that will get deep in the sand bed for a good cleaning
miamishrip
Member
Originally Posted by Gmidd
Wow! Good to know. I'll go with a Fighting Conch then, SWF recommends 1 per 30 gal. I want something that will get deep in the sand bed for a good cleaning
cool - be careful with the stocking advice for what sites recommend per 30 gallons / 20 gallons etc... some might say "at this size, we recommend 1 per 30 gallons" - 'at this size' means the size they are selling them (about 1 inch)
Wow! Good to know. I'll go with a Fighting Conch then, SWF recommends 1 per 30 gal. I want something that will get deep in the sand bed for a good cleaning
cool - be careful with the stocking advice for what sites recommend per 30 gallons / 20 gallons etc... some might say "at this size, we recommend 1 per 30 gallons" - 'at this size' means the size they are selling them (about 1 inch)
gmidd
Member
Originally Posted by jvannis
Just looking for some recommendations on what type of cleaning crew I should be looking for
You can go off my list since it seems to not have any 'Nays'. I just based mine off of SWF reef packages. Since I just have FOWLR, there's no way I'd have that many snails and, exspecially, crabs.
Just looking for some recommendations on what type of cleaning crew I should be looking for
You can go off my list since it seems to not have any 'Nays'. I just based mine off of SWF reef packages. Since I just have FOWLR, there's no way I'd have that many snails and, exspecially, crabs.
miamishrip
Member
when you are ready to add fish - a diamond watchman goby is a GREAT sandsifter ( i am unsure of the tank size requirements, and i believe you can only have one goby in the tank )
jam1e
Active Member
the Diamond goby isn't a watchman .. it's actually a sleeper goby .. you need at least a fifty five gallon tank because it needs a large enough sand bed to feed off of constantly .. and they will keep your sand white . and you can have more than one per tank if you tank is big enough .. I have a mated pair in my 210 gallon .. Here's mine:
miamishrip
Member
Originally Posted by Jam1e
the Diamond goby isn't a watchman .. it's actually a sleeper goby .. you need at least a fifty five gallon tank because it needs a large enough sand bed to feed off of constantly .. and they will keep your sand white . and you can have more than one per tank if you tank is big enough .. I have a mated pair in my 210 gallon .. Here's mine:
cool jam1e - i have read the diamond as a watchman on some sites and a sleeper on different sites but i def. dont doubt your knowledge so i will assume it is indeed a sleeper from now on
- i have a 125 gallon do you think i could add a shrimp goby with a pistol shrimp??? :thinking:
the Diamond goby isn't a watchman .. it's actually a sleeper goby .. you need at least a fifty five gallon tank because it needs a large enough sand bed to feed off of constantly .. and they will keep your sand white . and you can have more than one per tank if you tank is big enough .. I have a mated pair in my 210 gallon .. Here's mine:
cool jam1e - i have read the diamond as a watchman on some sites and a sleeper on different sites but i def. dont doubt your knowledge so i will assume it is indeed a sleeper from now on
30-xtra high
Active Member
gmidd. bluelegs/ redlegs are fine if they have shells. i'd definatly go with the coral banded instead of the cleaner, cheaper,cooler looking, does better job cleaning. if you don't want corals, you should get a chocolate chip star. and when adding a second fish get a lawnmower blenny.
miamishrip
Member
i have that diamond goby - but could i also keep that yasha(spelling?) goby w/ pistol shrimp?
jam1e
Active Member
oh .. well .. you might see some bullying .. the diamond might pick on the other goby .. but you should be able to tell within the first couple days if they'll be alright or not .. if you see any bullying within the first 3 days i would remove one of the gobies .. but if everything's ok then you should be alright .. good luck
miamishrip
Member
thanks! - sorry to hijack the thread for a couple of posts!
gmidd
Member
No hijack here. Blennies and Gobies are great additions to help keep a tank clean. While I like the Lawnmower Blenny I prefer to go with a Goby for helping with the sandbed. My understanding of the Lawnmower Blenny is that its great for algea, more so for Hair Algea. Since I'm not going to have coral for sometime I was thinking of a small starfish, those long brown arm types?