how many?
- Thread starter jsab
- Start date
torno
Member
Generally it's not a good idea to have a mixture of hermit crabs and snails. What will happen over time is the snails will be *slaughtered* by the hermits for their shells. Sometimes for no reason at all. You will find just empty shells scattered about. There are some less aggressive hermits though. You could house scarlet reef hermits, or right hand hermits with snails.
I personally like snails for algae cleanup/sand sifting, and hermit crabs for leftover food/waste. I would decide on what you will be aiming for with the cleanup crew, and what you can take care of on your own. If you can manually scrape algae off the glass and such, maybe go for the hermits. If you won't be overfeeding and not needing to worry about food cleanup, I'd stick with snails.
Now, onto the point of how many for a tank that size. I'd say 1 hermit/snail for each 2 gallons. That way, you won't have them dying off if they aren't getting enough food. Maybe start off even slower, and overtime add more if you think the crew isn't working up to standards.
I personally favor snails over crabs..(shh! don't tell my scarlet reefs)
I personally like snails for algae cleanup/sand sifting, and hermit crabs for leftover food/waste. I would decide on what you will be aiming for with the cleanup crew, and what you can take care of on your own. If you can manually scrape algae off the glass and such, maybe go for the hermits. If you won't be overfeeding and not needing to worry about food cleanup, I'd stick with snails.
Now, onto the point of how many for a tank that size. I'd say 1 hermit/snail for each 2 gallons. That way, you won't have them dying off if they aren't getting enough food. Maybe start off even slower, and overtime add more if you think the crew isn't working up to standards.
I personally favor snails over crabs..(shh! don't tell my scarlet reefs)
jsab
Member
I had heard that about hermits, taking over others shells. Had thought to get some empty shells for them to try on? LOL.
Our tank is a little over 2 wks old. We just received (from another online supplier) yesterday the first of our cleanup crew, none too soon (having some serious brown algae). We got 2 mexican turbo snails, 2 nassarious snails, 3 scarlet hermit crabs, 5 blue leg hermit crabs (VERY small), and a skunk cleaner shrimp.
1 per 2 gallons sounds good to me.
Our tank is a little over 2 wks old. We just received (from another online supplier) yesterday the first of our cleanup crew, none too soon (having some serious brown algae). We got 2 mexican turbo snails, 2 nassarious snails, 3 scarlet hermit crabs, 5 blue leg hermit crabs (VERY small), and a skunk cleaner shrimp.
1 per 2 gallons sounds good to me.
jsab
Member
We have a live sand bed. We placed about 15 pounds of live cured rock with about 30 pounds of base rock. We would like more live rock, but don't have a curing place. We just got our first two polyps yesterday in very nice condition and am pleased with them. Our brown algae is becoming obtrusive and I was thinking it is due to the amount of time the light is on. We are running a 65 watt doubel compact light about 12 hours a day. From reading, sounds like too long.
teen
Active Member
how long has the tank been running so far? i would try to get more LR before adding more of a clean up crew.
if you buy more cured LR from a lfs or a place close to you, then there shouldnt be any die off, as long as you keep the rock moist on the drive home. then there would be no need for a place to cure the rock.
the brown algae is most likely diatoms which are common in new tanks. are you using tap water, or RO water? i
if you buy more cured LR from a lfs or a place close to you, then there shouldnt be any die off, as long as you keep the rock moist on the drive home. then there would be no need for a place to cure the rock.
the brown algae is most likely diatoms which are common in new tanks. are you using tap water, or RO water? i
jsab
Member
The tank has been up for a little over two weeks. We have a pet store about an hour from us that sells live rock. We can get some there.
We are using tap water. Considering the investment of an RO system, but wasn't sure. The more I read the boards, the more I learn and realize that I need MORE things. Can we say money pit??
We are using tap water. Considering the investment of an RO system, but wasn't sure. The more I read the boards, the more I learn and realize that I need MORE things. Can we say money pit??
jsab
Member
the fiji live rock from SWF says "PRE-CURED and HAND-PICKED LIVEROCK - Saltwaterfish.com offers the very best Ultra "Pre-cured" Fiji Live Rock. Each piece that is shipped to our customers is hand-picked for size and coralline coverage. In the Fiji plant, the rock is scrubbed down and power sprayed to remove debris. The rock is then placed on shelves where it is sprayed down with saltwater in order to allow many of the unwanted "pests" to crawl into the tanks below. Once it reaches Saltwaterfish.com it is rinsed again and placed into our Live Rock Curing System."
we do not have the setup or desire to cure live rock! do you think it is alright with what they say, or are we better off canceling and purchasing at the LFS an hour away?
we do not have the setup or desire to cure live rock! do you think it is alright with what they say, or are we better off canceling and purchasing at the LFS an hour away?
teen
Active Member
youre probably better off cancelling the order for LR. it says precured, but there will be die off while its in the mail. id go back to your lfs and see if you can get fully cured LR from them, then wrap it in moist nespaper on the ride home. sorry if i confused you with my above posts about cured LR.
jsab
Member
No, no, I appreciate all your input. The lr we currently have we bought at the lfs an hour away. It was totally cured and was packaged in some tank water bagged and then in a box. Traveled fine and we placed it right in the tank and all is good.
I went ahead and requested to cancel the lr order. It was cheaper by $2 a pound but that's not worth it to go through all that hassle. I can go to my lfs on monday and get all I need.
I went ahead and requested to cancel the lr order. It was cheaper by $2 a pound but that's not worth it to go through all that hassle. I can go to my lfs on monday and get all I need.