Getting rid of Detritus

blue steel

Member
Hi. I have had my tank set up for a little over half a year and lately I have been experiencing a lot of detritus buildup... any suggestions for keeping a clean tank :help:
 

krishj39

Active Member
Do you have an adequate clean up crew? You should have a lot of snails and crabs to take care of that. What is your substrate? If you have crushed coral, you'll need to clean it out with a siphon once in a while.
 

blue steel

Member
We did have an adequate clean up crew, but about a month ago we had an ick break out and then a copper incident that was a very good learning experience. We are just now starting to rebuild a clean up crew, so hopefully soon we can control the problem. What would be the bulk of the clean up crew that you would recomend?
 

krishj39

Active Member
My personal favorites are mexican turbos (the large snails), margarita snails, and then scarlet hermits. I like scarlet hermits the best because they are not aggressive. However, I also believe they are less effective than other hermit crabs. In my tank, I also have cortez red leg hermits, zebra hermits, and blue leg hermits. Also, for detrius clean up, get a sea cucumber.
 

blue steel

Member
Currently we have some turbo snails and some blue hermit crabs...the crabs don't seem to be too effective though. I have been looking to get a sea cucumber, do you know how much they run?
 

krishj39

Active Member
Well, the price varies a lot depending on the type and where you buy it from. All you are looking for is one that sifts the sand, there are many and usually more expensive ones that are filter feeders (pull their food from the water column). I got one as a hitch hiker and it is always out eating my sand and pooping it out again cleaner than it went in. But, I also just bought a sand sifting cucumber last weekend that cost me 3$ at the LFS, so it really shouldn't be too expensive for you. Oh, do you have sand? If you have crushed coral, I don't know if they will do well.
 
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