Yet another question

[chuck]

at what point should I add a cleanup crew?

and what do I need for my 75?

Sorry to hav so many questions, but would rather ask than make costly mistakes or harm any livestock.

are there any good places to get "packages"?

 

[ScottM]

http://216.235.242.50/forums/showthread.php?t=9163

 

[JustDavidP]

Chuck,

Scott's post points to a great deal for clean up crews. What you add, and how much you add is debatable and/or a matter of preference. Some folks will NOT use any crabs of any kind. They say that they "can't be trusted". I happen to like them.

Check out some other articles/posts about "suggested packages" for an idea.

http://www.reefland.com/rho/0305/medprod3.php
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/saltwater/ziegler04.html
http://www.wamas.org/links/suppliers/critters.htm

Never fear asking questions... we'd rather help you start off right, than to help you clean up after a problem later I, for one, am a self proclaimed, eternal newbie!

Dave

 

[Moe_K]

Good post, David.

 

[ScottM]

check these out! not cheap but Very cool
http://www.reefermadness.us/RMD_Candy_Nerita.htm

 

[NateHanson]

To answer the question of when to add them, I'd wait until your nitrites go up, then go back down to zero on their own. Then you can add snails and crabs. I'd hold off on any shrimp or nudibranches for another couple weeks.

 

[gordonzoo]

I added a cleanup package during the back side of my cycle as the nitrites were coming down. Everything made it OK. Turbo Nassarius Snails, crabs, brittle & serpent stars. I need to get 50 or so snails and remove the 5 crabs I have remaining. Looks like they have eaten the snails whenever they can catch them off guard. I caught one of them munching on the base of my Toadstool. All my red leg and blue are MIA. Not sure what type of crab it is but they are comming out. They are cool to look just be sure they are friendly.

 

[NateHanson]

I've never had any problem with scarlet and blue-leg hermits in my tank. I would guess that maybe if your small hermit crabs are eating snails it's because the snails are dead/dying. (snails can be pretty sensitive to water quality in my experience)

Personally I prefer crabs over snails for cleaning algae on the rockwork. Crabs just seem to do more, and kill themselves less often. Snails are certainly necessary for sand maintenance, but I go back and forth about the usefulness of astreas and turbos.

 

[chuck]

ok, well I am on the backside of the nitrite cycle. Thanks everyone for your input, I will be reading those articles tonight.

 

[gordonzoo]

I would wait about one more week to stock cleanup. I ordered mine through the mail thinking it would take a bit to get them and they arrived the next day. I had to put them in. Lucky I had 100lbs of LR and 30 lbs of LS that helped my cycle along. I never really had a large spike in my cycle. I only had a small amount of ammonia in the beginning. The trick in my case was to gradually add small amounts of bio load so the system can absorb it readily.
I don?t have anymore blue or red legged crabs, just a handful of rogue unidentifiable ones. I think I need to pull or take a pic and have someone help ID them. Since I caught one eating at my toadstool I will just go ahead and pull them anyway.
Rich

 

[chuck]

well, I am probably going to wait at least one more week. Even though my nitrites are on the downswing, I do not want to risk killing anything do to my own ignorance.

HOwever, I think I am more excited about the cleanup crew than I am about any eventual fish or corals LOL

 

[gordonzoo]

My serpent stars are fun to watch eating food. Cleaner shrimp is a close second. He is a curious fellow. It will come up to my hand and poke at it with his antennas. I hear stories of them being trained.

 

[chuck]

training shrimp? LOL

I just read those articles, seems there is no "set" cleanup crew. Maybe I will just get a couple of the crabs and a bunch of snails, I don't want one eating the other

 

[NateHanson]

I'm sure everyone's got different opinions on cleaner stocking, I'd probably get 3 dozen nassarius, 1-2 dozen cerith, 2 dozen scarlet hermits, 2 dozen blue-leg, a fighting conch, 5 turbos and 10 astreas. Something in that ballpark.