Custom clean up crew?

[oKrazyii]

So I filled out a forum on what I’ve seen to be a pretty trusted site for saltwater clean up crews and I’m wondering if it sounds correct to everyone else, I have a 29gallon tank and to me this seems like it’s a tad overstocked? I’m not sure though as I don’t know the size of these critters or the required space needed for them just looking for y’all’s opinions

 

[oKrazyii]

Personally I’m ok with have a ton of snails if it’s viable for my tank but at the same time I feel this might be excessive? Currently for clean up I only have 3 red Cortez hermit crabs, 2 Halloween hermit crabs, 1 astraeas snail and 2 blue legged hermit crabs so also not too sure if I need all these snails and no more hermit crabs or if I should be trying to get more hermit crabs and along with some snails?

 

[slingfox]

How old is your tank? Does it have algae issues?

 

[oKrazyii]

How old is your tank? Does it have algae issues?

Not much yet, tank isn’t very old, I more so filled the form out for later on when/if I end up having algae problems as this is my first tank and I’m not sure how fast or bad the algae might get so figured I’d get a general idea of what I might need when I get there lol. As of right now I just have detritus on the rocks/sand and glass nothing too bad though as the crabs seem to keep up pretty well. I also currently only have the critters and a single clownfish

 

[petcellar]

I doubt very much that it’s too much…. You usually end up needing more than you think.

But you don’t need it all now in a new tank.

I don’t usually like to add CUC all at once…. Maybe start with half that and ramp it up as needed and as the algae grows.

That does make for more shipping fees though.

I’ve gotten several orders from reef cleaners. They aren’t perfect, but overall I’ve had a very good experience.

 

[slingfox]

The dwarf Cerith are tiny so you can basically ignore those from a bioload perspective. Astrea are workhorses and get into most of the small spaces. My nassarius seem to mostly cruise around the sand at night—I’m not sure you need 8 for that size tank but probably doesn’t hurt. I think your tank would be fine adding that clean up crew. If you do so before you have algae you may need to put in some algae pellets or nori to feed the CUC itself.

 

[ShaunMc]

Anywhere local you can go? Also, did you tell them you had hermits already? I’d assume they might think your starting at 0.

These would be my targets over time.

1 emerald crab if gha on rocks. 1-2 Mexican turbo. These things get golf ball size and are super active. 1-2 trochus. 1 fighting conch (or similar). As you add livestock. With one clown, I’d assume you don’t feed much. Add a few Nassarius of not a conch.

 

[Rach77]

I also agree this sounds good for a 29 to start off with. All of those are small snails. I have over 50 dwarf ceriths in an established 20 gal, plus other snails.

 

[Science/G]

Some nerite snails will crawl out of your aquarium BTW. Dwarf Cerith are tiny but I like them. Florida Cerith are better. Astrea snails flop over and can't right themselves, but are great algae eaters.