Cleanup crew for an aggressive

[cnall]

I am moving a long distance and must sell everything in my peaceful 55 G FOWLR. The only thing staying will be some LR. I hope to set up an aggressive tank and have been reading up on the forums. I really like triggers and possibly a dwarf lion. How do you aggressive experts keep your tank clean...is there a cleanup crew that I can put in that won't get decimated by triggers, etc.? Also if anyone has any advice for stocking a 55 let me know...thanks

 

[sharkboy13]

there rnt many, hand cleaning is really the best way to go w/ triggers, tho, there rnt any that can be kept w/ lion and in a 55gal

 

[blue oasis]

I put in some snails and about half of them still remain after 1 month (the others were eaten). I also hand clean my tank (with a special sponge you can pick up at your lfs) every week.

 

[cnall]

Hey blue I don't know what you have in yours but are there any good sand sifters that could survive with a dwarf fuzzy and SFE? I was hoping like a good-sized sleeper goby? Thanks again I just assume that I will suffer some snail casualties

 

[topofsteel]

Strawberry hermit crabs and Turbo snails. I basically have an Aggressive 55 gallon with a Huma Huma and a Sharpnose puffer. I've had one snail causality in the past 6 months and that was from a hermit crab. But I could use someone to turn the sand, probably some kind of Goby eventually. Good luck with the move.

 

[blue oasis]

I dont have anything in my tank that cleans sand, but my dragon wrasse moves the sand around so my sand stays clean (Dragon Wrasses are the coolest).

 

[cnall]

Thanks blue I really like dragons, but I am hoping that maybe a humu humu will do a good job of blowing around my sandbed hopefully a lot like your dragon does

 

[blue oasis]

I never heard of a Humu Humu trigger help clean a sand bed, but I guess I will find out soon. I am thinking about getting one about 2 weeks.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by BLUE OASIS
I dont have anything in my tank that cleans sand, but my dragon wrasse moves the sand around so my sand stays clean (Dragon Wrasses are the coolest).
Draggon wrasses are cool, but grow too large for a 55. Cleaning by hand is probably your best bet. As for the sand, engineer gobies get to be a descent size. Also, don't mix triggers and lions, the lion would get shredded and the triggers get too large for that sized tank. The SFE and the lion would work.

 

[madwabbit]

I have a 120 FOWLR with lionfish, trigs, etc...hand cleaning I do about once every 3 or 4 weeks. You guys need a MAG-FLOAT...thing works wonders. During a commercial break twice a week I just hop off the couch and slide the magnet back and forth - presto chango I have clean glass. Also, I use many different types of crabs, but most often the fatalities of crabs are caused by larger crabs, not my fish.
The problem I have (and maybe is yours also) is getting rid of that ugly, thick hair-like dark green algea that came with cycling the tank with too much light. I just cant kill the stuff...I even took a coral skeleton out of the tank to see if I could get it off myself- its impossible. Any tips here would be greatly appreciated. I hear snails work wonders in large numbers...I may just go grab 20-30 snails/crabs today to blitz that algae out of the tank.

 

[madwabbit]

Update: I found the answer, its called a "Sea Hare" - its a giant snail with no shell. Toss him in there, cut the light back in the tank for a week, and all that algae is history.

 

[ccg24]

I don't think putting a trigger and a Lion together is a good Idea the Trigger will probably kill your lion.... no matter how small the trigger and how big the lion the trigger is a killer but I am having trouble w/ the cleaning crew as well I am still looking I don't think I can have a sea hare but would like to defeintly find out........ I have a Lg. Lion a Porcupine Puffer and a Snowflake Eel..... in a 135 gal. tank and I have a couple snails a strawberry crab and acouple small baby hermits but I hardly see any of them so when I think they might be dead I'll eventually see one or the other.... but so far I haven't had any casualties...