Need help picking out CUC

scottnlisa

scottnlisa

Member
Okay, I am tired of turbo snails. I don't have good luck with them. I have 4 emerald crabs. What other CUC should I get and how many of each?
Here is what tank : 125g with 100#live rock and 100# sand. It is going to be a FOWLR tank. I am going to order a package off the internet that I can build myself but I don't know what I need. please help. If you want to look at the site, PM me and I'll send you the link. Thanks for your help
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
get 12 nassarius, 12 cerith, 12 astrea.....I think I know where you are looking, so I am trying to remember what they have w/o looking..LOL...hmmm...get 1 sally light foot, 2 (or 3) medium fighting conch
that should be good to start, you can up the snail amounts if you think you need to....Do you have any others??
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

just an idea...look under reef packages at the left of this page and see what kind of CUC you would need for a 125g tank and tweak the suggestions to suite yourself.
For example, I don't like brittle stars, I like serpent stars. I also don't want a coral banded shrimp because I like cleaner shrimps. So I left those critters off my CUC list and replaced them with ones I liked better, but I had an idea of how many different types of critters I needed to get.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Speg
http:///forum/post/3276371
why don't you like brittle stars?
UGLY!..The serpent stars do the same thing and look cool like an octopus when they move. It's just a preference. Like those tiny dwarf hermits are good for tiny crevices and those little nano tanks.
Each person has a preference, one critter may work best for them and not so much for us. If you were going to keep a frag tank for example, you don’t want critters like hermits dislodging them. However in a reef where your coral are permanently attached to the rocks they are fine.
There are people on here who can’t have bristle worms because they are dangerous to their choice of critter like a Sea Horse. No critter is perfect for every tank, each person has to work it out.
 
speg

speg

Active Member
Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3276384
Each person has a preference, one critter may work best for them and not so much for us. If you were going to keep a frag tank for example, you don’t want critters like hermits dislodging them. However in a reef where your coral are permanently attached to the rocks they are fine.
Maybe for corals that don't require feedings and certainly not sps and lps is questionable since hermits can walk over them without being damaged but causing damage to the polyps...just sayin...
I'm sorry you feel that brittle stars are ugly.. I think they're amazing. I do agree that serpents are equally useful and also amazing looking.
Why can't sea horses and bristle worms be in the same tank? I honestly don't know much about sea horses.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Because the bristle worm can sting the seahorse.....seahorses are very fragile
I have a brittle star in each tank....and I also have a serpent in my 225G....Very rarely do I see the serpent...and I see the brittles quite often....I like them :)
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3276419
Because the bristle worm can sting the seahorse.....seahorses are very fragile
I have a brittle star in each tank....and I also have a serpent in my 225G....Very rarely do I see the serpent...and I see the brittles quite often....I like them :)

LOL...an arm of a brittle star looks like a bobbit worm, my husband thought it was, and we went hunting. tearing apart the rocks. Then I had a huge green brittle star that turned Hannable Lector on me, after it ate the other green brittle star it found my shrimp.
I see my serpents more often than I see my fire shrimp. I thought the critter was dead from the shock when my heater broke...Months later I see him alive and well. It's hard to say what is living up in all those rocks that I thought didn't make it.
 
speg

speg

Active Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3276419
Because the bristle worm can sting the seahorse.....seahorses are very fragile
I see. I don't really know about the "fragility" of a seahorse :)
I have a huge brittle in my nano and he does a good job since I feed every couple of days and some of the food goes who-knows-where....what he doesn't get, the little bristleworms do.
 
scottnlisa

scottnlisa

Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3276247
get 12 nassarius, 12 cerith, 12 astrea.....I think I know where you are looking, so I am trying to remember what they have w/o looking..LOL...hmmm...get 1 sally light foot, 2 (or 3) medium fighting conch
that should be good to start, you can up the snail amounts if you think you need to....Do you have any others??
I currently have 4 turbo snails and 3 emerald crabs.
 
scottnlisa

scottnlisa

Member
Originally Posted by Speg
http:///forum/post/3276255
why do you have bad luck with turbos?
I think it is because of *****. They have a very very I mean very hard time keeping snails and that is where I buy them from. Out of 10 snails I buy, like 2 or 3 live past 2 days. I have checked my water quality constantly and it is good.
 
scottnlisa

scottnlisa

Member
Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3276269

just an idea...look under reef packages at the left of this page and see what kind of CUC you would need for a 125g tank and tweak the suggestions to suite yourself.
For example, I don't like brittle stars, I like serpent stars. I also don't want a coral banded shrimp because I like cleaner shrimps. So I left those critters off my CUC list and replaced them with ones I liked better, but I had an idea of how many different types of critters I needed to get.
They do have a reef cleaner package with like 12 different CUC's I can pick from but I don't have a clue which ones are good and which are bad.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by scottnlisa
http:///forum/post/3276533
I currently have 4 turbo snails and 3 emerald crabs.
go with what I said...LOL...I have ordered a lot of cuc from there.....I am sure we mean the same place....CUC is all I have ordered cause of the shipping deal...the conch are small....that's why I say get 2, or 3 of the medium....they are maybe 1 1/2"
SWF conch are 3-4"
 
scottnlisa

scottnlisa

Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3276551
go with what I said...LOL...I have ordered a lot of cuc from there.....I am sure we mean the same place....CUC is all I have ordered cause of the shipping deal...the conch are small....that's why I say get 2, or 3 of the medium....they are maybe 1 1/2"
SWF conch are 3-4"
Oh I also have a cleaner shrimp.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by scottnlisa
http:///forum/post/3276567
Just out of curiousity what about bumble bee snails? Would it hurt to add these also to my tank?
I have a few of these.....I can not remember...BUT Cranberry (Renee) and I belive her hubby Saxman....Both gave reasons why to stay away from them....
sure wish I could remember what they were
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3276570
I have a few of these.....I can not remember...BUT Cranberry (Renee) and I belive her hubby Saxman....Both gave reasons why to stay away from them....
sure wish I could remember what they were

My book says they eat beneficial polychaetes and other snails, and the sand dwelling worms out of the sand bed.
 
speg

speg

Active Member
Originally Posted by scottnlisa
http:///forum/post/3276534
I think it is because of *****. They have a very very I mean very hard time keeping snails and that is where I buy them from. Out of 10 snails I buy, like 2 or 3 live past 2 days. I have checked my water quality constantly and it is good.
Do you drip acclimate? You should test their water next time you make a purchase from them just to see what they're workin with... I've noticed that a few pet stores keep their salinity at some weird levels and if acclimation isn't done SLOWLY then the critter will most likely die of shock.
 
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