55gal Clean Up Crew - How much/How soon

Kola99 · Sep 29, 2020

I just set up my first 55gal reef tank on September 1st and now that I'm approaching that 1 month mark, I'd like to find out if I can begin to add a clean up crew or if I should keep waiting. As well as any recommendations as to what to add and how many. Right now all I have in the tank are 2 clowns and 1 royal gramma (more coming soon).

Montiman · Sep 29, 2020

I can give what I use as guidelines but keep in mind these are not hard fast rules.

I generally find that in the long run I can not sustain more than about 1 snail or crab per 5 gallons of water. If the tank is dirty more will live but after everything is settled. more than 1 per 5 gallons tends to starve. I would start with about 10-12 snails and crabs.

As to when you should add a clean up crew. I always recommend waiting until there is something to clean up. If you have algae and detritus accumulating then add some CUC to help handle it.

As to the mix I add based on what problems I am seeing. Nassarius snails are good for detritus in the sand, emerald crabs are good for bubble algae. Hermits are good for turf and short hair algae. Turbos, astreas, and trochus are good for diatoms and film algae.

Don't rule out larger CUC like a small bristle tooth tang or a sea urchin. If it were my 55 I would certainly add one of these. Likey a kole tang. The tang police will complain but I believe that a single kole tang will greatly increase the chance of your success with the tank. If you feel bad adding a tang an urchin could help.

MrSalty · Oct 1, 2020

In my 55 I added 2 Banggai cardinals and then waited until I seen algae growing, which was about a month after adding the fish. Then I ordered the smallest CUC pack that reefcleaners.org had. It says you will get 30 snails, I ended up with around 50. I added a few Margarita snails, Turbo snails, bumblebee snails, around 5 each. I was also super impressed with the bumblebee snails. They cleaned every tiny crevice on my frags.

I would second the Tang. I added a small Scopas Tang and within 24hours it had gotten rid of all the hair algae. I feed a 4inch square of nori every other day, what the Tang doesn't eat the snails clean up. If I see algae in the tank a skip a day.