Reef Packages vs Buying Individuals

[ladylostinsalt]

Can somepne shed some light for me on the pros and cons of odering the reef packages vs individual little fellows for the tank. The price makes it almost insane to purchase individually, but I'm sure I'm missing something??? Can someone please shed some light for me?

 

[aztec reef]

i'm not a fan of reef packages due to the fact that your adding several animals at once.. but if your getting the deal of century than you might take the risk but be prepared to loose a few of them or not that's why its a risk.

 

[stanlalee]

I dont like reef packages at all. Usually too many of everything for the size tank recommended. too many clean up crew members you may not want at all. too expensive overall price for a lot of stuff you just may not want or need. you do not need a $100 clean up crew for a 30gallon or 20 hermits, 20 astrea snails, two serpents and on and on. even if you do those clean up crew packages are geared towards well established reef tanks and the person usually buying them are people starting a tank.

 

[fbm]

Reef packages add almost zero bioload. Almost none at all, don't even think it would be enough to cycle a tank. They take away more bioload than they add most of the time.

 

[sportbikemike]

The thing I don't like about the packages are that they give you animals together that would never see each other in the wild. It's cool to get 3 different types of snails but if I was to get them I would want them to be somewhat related. Why would I was Atlantic snails, Indo-Pacific hermits, Indian stars and Carribean shrimp. They should offer region oriented packages.

 

[stanlalee]

Originally Posted by fbm
Reef packages add almost zero bioload. Almost none at all, don't even think it would be enough to cycle a tank. They take away more bioload than they add most of the time.

they do if you have to feed them to keep them alive. I think they are way too generous with the amount of cleaners for the size tanks they recommend. I guess it makes no sense for them to sell a package with $30 worth of clean up crew. a properly maintained reef system is nutrient deprived to begin with and should no way be able to support the amount of livestock these reef packages have for the size tank they recommend without feeding excesssively. maybe the upper end of tank size recommendations and with well established tanks they might be appropriate. with the packages I see you are either going to feed more to keep them alive or they will slowly die off to numbers your tank will sustain. a 20g and 55g wont need anywhere near the same package yet thats the window for the package. I went out and bought 20 hermit crabs for my 30g reef and 6 months later only 6 were left. Once it dropped down to six I never had a hermit missing and before I added the 18 to my 2 my two were just fine. what they recommend for a 20g is big enough for my 100g and quite frankly right now my 100g wouldn't even support that much until its been up a little longer.
things I dont like for example they have 20 astrea snails or more in most of their package. Now I dont dislike astrea snails but they basically dont do jack. they dont even touch the substrate unless its to get to the glass. they do a so so job at best on the glass. the work and move slow. they only consume algae. about the only thing they clean up good is live rock and if you have 20 in 6 months you'll have 10 unless you watch to see which ones flipped over and cant get back up. what they are are cheap and plentyful.

 

[hatessushi]

Most sites I have ordered from allow you to taylor your own cleanup crew package. You don't have to purchase just the packages they offer. Some packages I have seen have creatures that shouldn't even me add to a new tank like sand sifting stars or any starfish for that matter.
I personally think packages are a great idea as long as you can order what you want in it. I think it would be really cost prohibitive if you ordered separate items because the shipping cost would be to high if you ordered one at a time.