Clean Up Crew Selection

[KSReefing]

Hey guys/gals I'm about to start selecting a clean up crew for my 60 gallon cube. I will have a heavily stocked mixed reef tank with a good amount of fish.

I have always done blue leg crabs and mixture of different snails. Do people do clean up crews with just snails? Are hermit crabs really needed that much? I can't stand when the crabs kill snails for shells. I'm curious what people like for their clean up crew and what people would recommend for a 60 gallon cube. Like I said it will be a heavily stocked cube.

 

[Big G]

Beware of the predatory hermit crab. Those dudes are little murderers. :eek: Big fan of nerites, ceriths both dwarf and the larger Florida, but Ninja Star are my favorites. Cool looking and great workers.

 

[Raptor72]

Trochus snails have always seemed to be the hardest working ones for me. They easily right themselves back up, have a ferocious appetite for algae and don't wander out of the tank. I always look for them when visiting a new fs.

 

[Scotty Buttons]

Scarlet or red legged hermit crab ( Paguristes cadenati) are good for clean up crew and I've never had one eat my snails there pretty peaceful.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Just choose snails and crew that replace what crabs do. I have one crab in my 30 gal.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/choosing-cleanup-crew-critters.258695/

 

[AlexReef100]

I've never had an issue with hermits killing snails for their shells. I bought cheap packs of empty assorted shells from Michaels years ago and I scattered them all around the tank, now I have a discarded shell graveyard on one side of the tank, but it's worth it to avoid losing CUC members to shell fights.

I usually do an assortment of cerith, margarita, and turbo snails and then scarlet, blue leg, and zebra hermits.