clean-up crew

[terrence]

My tank has been cycled now for several months. I've only added 5 turbo snails (I think one died this week....do snails lay on their backs/hole upwards for two days without moving??) Anyways....I'm reading the ad here on SWF.COM about the Big 20 reef pkg...and there lies my question. Do I want that much???? When I bought the snails I also bought 2 peppermint shrimp...The serpant star took them to dinner!!!! Am I actually buying something that will help my tank.....or just an expensive meal???? Also...I see some pkgs include a couple of feather dusters...I heard some say I can't have them because I have no LR nor a skimmer......others have said....no problem....so those are my two questions. 1) Buy the Big 20?? 2) add a couple of feather dusters.................thanks for your help!!!! Terry

 

[vibe]

ok about the featherdusters needing a skimmer, that would be a no. i have a 10 gallon nano reef tank with a featherduster and no skimmer. now to start i would get some blue legged/ scarlet hermits. they do an exceptionally good job claening the sand. also pepermint shrimp are pretty much dinner for serpent stars! if you dont mind, you could get a camel shrimp. i think your pepermint shrimp died because of lack of places to hide! no LR means no sucessful living shrimp. especially with a serpent star. hope i helped. good luck

 

[terrence]

Thanks vibe.....I see you have about 13 hermits in a 10 gal tank......so I should go with the 50 they offer in the pkg. I do have several large pieces of Lace Rock...which I thought would act as protection......but the serpant star's legs are about 5' inches each....and he just went in there and introduced himself. I think I will order the package + 3 feather dusters.
Do you think thats ok for my 75gal???? Thanks again....T

 

[vibe]

yes, that sounds good to me, feather dusters are a nice addistion to any tank, and clean up crews do wonders. i bought my whole clean up crew in pieces from my LFS. good luck, and if the star still bothers anything you might want to make a decision on whether he is worth keeping.