good cleanup crew for 35 gal. reef?

stunna1212

stunna1212

Member
hey guys.....i am just about done cycling mt 35 gal hex....i have 50lbs of live rock and 35 lbs of live sand set up...now i am about ready to at my cleanup crew....this is what i had planeed on getting,..... i am new to this so any suggestions or criticism is glady accepted...
2 mexican turbos
1 fighting conch
5 asteras
10 nassarius
10 ceriths
please let me know what you guys thinik......also, so i need to add a shrimp.....i plan on adding corals aventually.....my lighting is 175 w MH and 2 50/50 20 w
thanks guys!!!!!
 
diadema

diadema

Member
Stunna,
Sounds like a good list. I would switch out the fighting conch and mexican turbos.
Turbos get REALLY big and tend to knock things over. Replace them with a few more ceriths.
The fighting conch is going to have a tough time getting enough food in a tank that small. I'd say putting a few more nassarius to substitute for it would be a good plan.
Good luck with the system!
 
jb rekit

jb rekit

Member
I would get 10 - 20 blue leg hermit crabs
and 10 scarlet hermit crabs also.
I wouldn't get the fighting conch, but you could get a queen conch if you want...they are much smaller.
i would add an emerald crab to the list as well.
 
jb rekit

jb rekit

Member
and i would leave the mexican turbos off as well...they do get kinda annoying sometimes knocking stuff over
 
gmusick

gmusick

Member
Did you use pendant lighting over your 35 hex? That is the same size tank as I have a struggled to find appropriate lighting. I ended up with a coralife aqualight 20" 96w quad. Sounds like your lighting is so much better. Can you post a pic with you lights? I would love to see what you did.
Thanks!
Glen
and to answer your question... I would defintely have more crabs. I have 2 emeralds, 6 blue legged, 3 red legged and I need more than I have. I agree with the above who said the conchs will struggle. They will also make a mess of your aquascaping. I would go with ceriths, nasarius, margarita snails, bumble bees.
 
diadema

diadema

Member
Originally Posted by JB Rekit
I wouldn't get the fighting conch, but you could get a queen conch if you want...they are much smaller.
You have that backwards. Queen conchs get MUCH bigger than fighting conchs.
 
wax32

wax32

Active Member
I personally like Astrea snails for glass cleaning. They do fall on their back and get eaten by hermits occasionally, but not often. I also have Nassarius for cleaning up in my sand. No LFS has ceriths around here, but I would have them too if I could.
Margarita snails are a temperate species and usually won't live long in a reef tank.
 
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