what can you use as a cleanup crew in a fowlr tank with fish that are not reef safe ?

[concertperks]

i have several fish in a 240G tank most are not reef safe,some are emperor angelfish almost adult 5 inches ,GHT 7.5 inches,
what can i add to this tank as a cleanup crew to eat left over food and fish dietrius ?
thanks in advance.

 

[flower]

Look up info on each fish and see if they eat those critters that make up a CUC. A lionfish for example will eat hermits. I don't think angels eat crabs or snails but I have only had reef safe fish so just check like I said.

 

[concertperks]

imho maybe dwarf angelfish like a coral beuty or a flame angelfish that would be true allthough you must monitor to be safe.
thanks for the response i think the angelfish adult emporer will nip if not eat small snails/hermit crabs as its an adult and for sure the GHT will crack open anything. I had some dead Derasa large clam shels i put in closed just to make the tank look nicer, and withing 1 day that clam shell was cracked into 4 pieces. I will tell you this i watched the GHT in the 125g tank where he was living for 5+ years and in the beginning i put 2 purple urchins in that tank to eat algae off the glass and within a week i witnessed the brilliance of the GHT before i could do anything he flipped over the urchin and eat him dry. i was new or 1+ years into the hobby and had not read as much books as i have now, and i figured that the urchin with the spikes could protect itself. I quickly removed the other urchin where the niger trigger didn't bother him. over time also i would put empty shells in the 125G tank that house the GHT as a juvenille so he could grind his teeth and soften them on empty shells. i'm lost here but will do some research as any snail large small or hermit crab even in a 4 inch SB will be dug up by the GHT then crushed with his mighty teeth. its very important to keep the tank when you dont have a great cuc with few fish and have an excellent protein skimmer, and a wet/dry filter or any filteration system (i personally like a wetdry custom with a skimmer hanging on the side of it) that is almost double for that tank, to keep it clean, also lots of flow help move around the dietrus so it can be filtered. i use strong (not too strong) PH's on each side of the tank creating a sorta reverse current a mag 24 and koraliya #8 mag.
The skimmer i use is a Hydor Performer 2000 and is fantastic.

 

[flower]

My lemonpeel dwarf angel eats all kinds of algae, and hasn't bothered any coral at all. What kind of coral do you have? I read monitor with LPS, soft and SPS corals would be fine with them.
I would think some sort of really hungry algae eating fish is all you will be able to keep in there. What about a serpent or brittle star, something to eat stuff caught up in the rocks?

 

[concertperks]

want to try to put red tree sponges and orange tree sponges, the angel nips it, but the GHT moves everything around, im affraid if i wedge it or stick it to the rock he will bite and eat the whole sponge.i need colors besides purple coraline algae in my fowlr tank, i do have a 125 long reef tank but im concentratring on the 240 fowlr tank for now the GHT is the problem
can you put a tree sponge in a 20 gallon tank with perfect parameters and strong flow and low lighting ? will it grow?

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by concertperks
http:///forum/post/3298405
want to try to put red tree sponges and orange tree sponges, the angel nips it, but the GHT moves everything around, im affraid if i wedge it or stick it to the rock he will bite and eat the whole sponge.i need colors besides purple coraline algae in my fowlr tank, i do have a 125 long reef tank but im concentratring on the 240 fowlr tank for now the GHT is the problem
can you put a tree sponge in a 20 gallon tank with perfect parameters and strong flow and low lighting ? will it grow?

Oh yes they do like sponges...I just realized I have an orange fan sponge and my lemon hasn't nipped it either..

I forgot about it when I got the angel.
Anyway, a sponge needs nutrients in the water, I feed my tank 2Xs a week with coral food for filter feeders. It is way under a cave, they don’t like the light..I can’t say it has really “grown” but I have had it for 3 years. It even shrunk a bit for awhile there about a year ago, and I thought I would lose it.

 

[concertperks]

i have a brach from a 15 inch orange tree sponge about 8 inches with lr on the bottom that is 5 years old with a niger trigger but that triggerfish is vey tame i would say reef safe from my experience. it lost some coloration and some of the fish nible at it but i belive they are eating algae off the sponge, i have a 250w MH on the right so ill put the new sponges on the left and my tank is deep and the light fixture is 16 inches over the tank, i wouldnt want to put it all the way in a cave since the vibrant coloros wont show, i have trained the emperor angelfish to eat algae nori and mysis and frozen f1 and f2, then he should get over the sponges i still think he wants the algae off the sponge.
anyways we got offtopic-"MY QUESTION FOR EVERYONE IS IN A FOWLR TANK WITH SOME AGGRESIVE FISH WHAT CAN YOU USE FOR A CUC ? THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR OPINIONS AND EXPERIENCES.
besides the great skimmer and filter- what will a GHT and emperor angelfish not eat if hermit crabs and most snails are out of the question imho, then what ? need help from many experience aquarists with fowlr tanks on a cuc for this kind of tank looking fwd to many replies for help- thanks in advance!

 

[sean48183]

Goatfish. Won't eat shit but keeps things stirred up so filter gets it. Other than that nothing. By the way what is a GHT?

 

[sean48183]

Nevermind. Golden Heart Trigger. With him the goatfish might even be in trouble.

 

[srfisher17]

A CUC is not a necessity; despite what marketing people tell you. They are great, but a tanks filtration (Bio, chem, & mech) handle crud with no problem. I don't keep any inverts, except in my little 55 reef, and I just have to do a little extra maintenence.(Very little)