Originally Posted by
King_Neptune
http:///forum/post/2964879
I dont want a massive cleanup crew as I believe that is not only a waste, but they over polute the tank. That is why I have chosen a small amount to do the job.
I am open to the idea of multiple types of snails. What would you consider to be a good amount of each type for my 125DT?
And ya I agree about the skunk shimp comment earlier, I was actually going to start with three myself, then add 2 more later, around the time I add the goby.
I don't agree with the over polluting the tank idea. It is my understanding that one average sized fish will pollute your tank more than your whole cleanup crew combined (even a large clean up crew). In general, inverts don't even really count when it comes to the bioload a tank can handle.
However, the size of your cleanup crew is somewhat up to personal preference, so if you want to stick with a small one, that is your choice. However, I suspect you'll end up having to do a lot more work yourself to keep the tank clean than you would if you had a larger cleanup crew.
How many of each type you should put in your 125 gallon is kind of a guessing game. If we are talking about a mature, fully stocked reef system with a full bioload of fish, then I would say 125 or more snails total, somewhat equally distributed between the various types. But that's for a mature system. Your cleanup crew should start off small and grow as your tank grows. Otherwise, there isn't enough food for the snails and such and they die.
I would start off with a few snails of each type and then add more as needed. If you notice detritus building up on the sand, add a few more nassarius and cerith snails. If your astreas and nerites can't keep up with the algae on the glass, add a few more. Your best bet is to build your cleanup crew based on the observed needs of your tank rather than on numbers.
