cleaning substrate

[angelofdeath132]

when i get a cleanup crew,do i need to vacuum the substrate every water change? what kind, and how many snails and crabs can i get for my 55 FO with no live rock tank(just a few decorative corals)? how long after the cycle can i get them? As always, thanks for the help!!

 

[lnarobbins]

you probably have crushed coral substrate right. I think that you should vacume the bottom about twice a month. for a cleanup crew I would suggest blue legged hermit crabs they stay small and you can have a bunch for your 55g tank I would suggest 25 or so in my 90g tank I have 30 and plan on adding more. you can also get some turbo snals. I would start out with only a couple and see what happens. Some fish might eat the snals.
this is my opinion
hope this helps
Alan

 

[karlas]

you may want to get a variety of snails instead of quantity a lot of people go for the quantity. i have a mix turbos, trochus, peppermint, and stomatella snails for the alge probably about 20 total, 10 nassarious, and 2 fighting conchs for the sand bed and the nass are great scavageners and sand stirrers. different snails eat different things and with a good mix they will go after different alges instead of just one kind. these are in a 75 gall also a few hitchiker snails also and everything stays clean. this is what worked for me

 

[ohscc]

Many people including myself are running or switching to live sand beds. The sand beds are inhabited by worms and micro organisms that break down waste. If you are running live sand do not vacuum your sand. If you are running a community tank i would get a clean up crew but if an aggressive tank start to research what if anything to get. Hope this helps
good luck