Are they starving!?!?!

[misty927]

I got a cleanup crew with snails, emerald crabs, a sally light foot, cucumber, bristle stars, cleaner shrimp, and red and blue leg hermits. Question is...they've cleaned up all algae and diatoms quite nicely, but almost too nicely. Now, I'm wondering if they don't have enough food to eat. How can I feed these little critters now that all the algae and diatoms are gone??

 

[broomer5]

Misty,
How long has the tank been set up ?
Newly set up tanks normally don't have much organic waste, algae or detritus down on the substrate ... normally. I've fed my Hermits, Emeralds and Sally pellets before, but not on a regular basis. When I feed fish and corals frozen foods, there always is a little bit of this food that settles to the bottom. These guys are the cleanup crew and that's what they do. If you want, you can feed them a LITTLE bit of solids, frozen or pellets .. but not too much. They are pretty hardy and will find food to eat. Snails are another story. They just do the glass crawl thing and get what they get.
Not sure if this answered your question or not ... but I know how you feel. You wanna make sure everybody gets enough to eat.
Brian

 

[goofieones]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. They will grab any food that the fish don't eat. Especially the Sally, mine is a little bugger, he stills food from the starfish when I feed the starfish. I have had all my guys for like 4 months now and they are doing good