clean up crew

[dhrone]

i currently have a 55 gal with about 35-40 lbs of lr. i have 9 blue leg hermits and 4 turbos. also i have a cleaner shrimp. i think maybe i just need a better filtration system. currently have: 2 hang on power filters that are both rated at about 400 gph but seem to be a little weaker than that. and a powerhead. i dont know if it is algea or not but i have a decent build up on the tanks wall. also i have CC so the bottom of the tank doesnt get stirred up enough. i was thinking of adding about 10 more crabs and maybe 2-3 more snails.

 

[dmjordan]

personally i prefer snails over crabs. in time the crabs seem to wipe out a snail populations leaving you with a tank full of empty shells.

 

[dhrone]

i have a lawnmower blenny and basically i wanted to know what else i can get to keep the algea and bad stuff down.
what type of snails do you suggest?

 

[dmjordan]

i like a variety of snail....nassauris, cerith, margarita, and astrea snails

 

[fishkiller]

You need A LOT more crabs and snails. With that setup, I would put 30-40 MORE hermits (red foots, zebras, just not too many blue legs- too aggressive), and 20 astrea snails, keep the turbos you have, just don't get any more. Depending on what type of turbos they are, they might die very soon due to heat, Many turbos cannot take the heat of an average reef tank for more than a few months or weeks. I would get 20 astrea, 1-2 good-sized serith, and a sand-sifting star. You will most likely be the one to clean the glass. Nature doesn't exactly have glass walls, so there really is no natural thing to handle it to your satisfaction. One word- MAGFLOAT! Hope this helps....