Snails and crabs more hindrance than help?

[sueandherzoo]

I'm just wondering what the balance is between the good and the bad of having too many snails and crabs. I have a small tank (beginner/experiment) and understand that they are good for cleaning things up but then I wonder, since they are alive and must excrete waste just like other living things, do they add to the bioload lowering how many fish I will ultimately be able to get? In other words, does them cleaning things up even out with the bioload they add or are they taking away from my ability to be able to add as many fish as I would be able to without them? Yes, I have ended up with a lot of snails and wonder if I need to get rid of some of them. I've had them in there about a week now and haven't really noticed much change in my water parameters but that doesn't mean they aren't having an affect on it.
Sue

 

[yearofthenick]

Yes, hermit crabs poop, but they poop out far less than the fish poop that they eat. IF you didn't have them, you'd just have the fish poop. better to have hermits with tiny hermit poop than a lot of fish poop.
They also do a good job of keeping your tank clean, which is why hermits and snails are widely considered to be good things for your tank.

 

[geoj]

The snails and crabs don’t add very much bio-load. The main thing they do is control the bad algae so the good algae can out grow it. You want to control what grows because some algae will thrive in the same conditions as corals. Just keep a count on snails and crabs and pull the dead ones.

 

[sueandherzoo]

That's great news - so maybe there isn't really such a thing as "too many"? (Unless, of course, they become unsightly being all over the place). I'm on my way upstairs to do my daily water check and HOPE to see that all is well.
Thanks for the responses - it was very helpful.
Sue

 

[geoj]

They can starve to death