fish only tank cleaners

[min12512]

i have a 90 gallon f/o tank and need a little advice. i have a hawkfish that ate some of my hermit crabs and my lfs said that the crabs and my snails should only be in a reef tank. he also said that cleaner starfishes should only be in a reef tank and maybe i should think of getting a sand sifting goby. is this right and what can/should i get for cleaners for a f/o tank?

 

[anthropo]

first you have to tell what other fish you have

 

[min12512]

2 clown fish, pacific blue tang, cardinal fish and 2 angel fish...and of course the arc eyed hawkfish.

 

[anthropo]

that's wierd that your hawk is killing hermits. if this was my tank i'd take the hawk out. blue leg hermits or any other little hermit is what i'd get. if you didn't have your hawk you could get shrimps of all kinds like peppermints, camels, skunks, coral bandeds. hawks are bullies to inverts. turbo snails will help if you don't want to get rid of the hawk. you could try emerald crabs as well.

 

[min12512]

how about star fish?....but my lfs says that snail, crabs, starfish...shouldnt be in f/o tanks...thats what i dont understand

 

[whitey_028]

rule number one never listen to fish store as they are most of the time trying to sell you something and dont really care about the well being of your tank...

except for some cases where once in a blue moon youll find a knowledgeable lfs...

 

[min12512]

so star fish, snails, etc are ok for a f/o tank....i just have to find out what works w/ my hawkfish....

 

[lt34]

I like the Mexican and Margarita turbo snails. They cleaned the tank very well. I haven't used my magnet cleaner in awhile as they even cleaned off the magnet. Make sure when you put them in the tank you place then against the glass or rocks. If you drop them in then some fish will think its lunch time. This will help protect them.

 

[min12512]

thanx...i have lots to learn too.....what about star fish....i heard they are good sand sifters....i need something to clean my sand and cant have any crabs since i have a hawkfish....any ideas?

 

[lt34]

I don't know anything about starfish so I won't try to give any advice on them, but your sand sifting gobies are good such as a Diamond, Golden headed, or I just got a Dragon Goby. These are your sleeper gobies and only allowed one per tank.

 

[fgcu14]

I dont know from experiance however I have seen alot of posts saying that starfish are very good sand sifters however should only be kept in 100+ gal tanks due to the fact that in a smaller tank they will die of starvation. Thats just what I have read so the info could be wrong.