First clean up crew

[Idoc]

great advice
but how did you leave out the bulldozer of cuc, the mexican turbo snail

And only thing i find in mt tank is nerite and cerith die over time. i started with 25 each and i dont see any in my tank 3 years ago might have a few

did you notice this
yes it could be my hermits :)
seen a few walking around in shells :)

Yes, the ceriths do seem to die, but you'll get a year or 2out of them. My nerites are just staying to die off after a couple of years. The astraea and trochus seem pretty hardy.

 

[LIreefguy]

Yes, the ceriths do seem to die, but you'll get a year or 2out of them. My nerites are just staying to die off after a couple of years. The astraea and trochus seem pretty hardy.

Yes it’s why I only stick with turbo astraea and trochus. But the other 2 are great snails

 

[SighKenny]

Yes it’s why I only stick with turbo astraea and trochus. But the other 2 are great snails

hey guys do you have any recommendation for cleaning my sand? I got this tank from a friend and it has some detritus and stuff in the sand and i have about a 2 1/2" sandbed with a pretty much cycled tank so i dont wanna get rid of the sand

 

[SighKenny]

Yes it’s why I only stick with turbo astraea and trochus. But the other 2 are great snails

I heard sea cucumbers are great at cleaning sand but i would be devastated if i got CukeNuke

 

[LIreefguy]

I have a tiger tail cucumber for over 5 years. It’s is great at cleaning the sand and this thing is now huge. It’s over 2 feet when fully expanded

I never had an issue with it. It even was able to survive high nitrates

 

[SighKenny]

I have a tiger tail cucumber for over 5 years. It’s is great at cleaning the sand and this thing is now huge. It’s over 2 feet when fully expanded

I never had an issue with it. It even was able to survive high nitrates

oh i may try one of those then

 

[Idoc]

hey guys do you have any recommendation for cleaning my sand? I got this tank from a friend and it has some detritus and stuff in the sand and i have about a 2 1/2" sandbed with a pretty much cycled tank so i dont wanna get rid of the sand

Vacuum it, but do it in sections... and slowly over time. If the sand bed hasn't been disturbed for a long time, disruption can release some bad buried stuff.

If the tank is already broken down, then just rinse your sand before putting it back in.

Diamond gobies and some sand dwelling cuc (fighting conch, etc...) will also work to move the sand and clean it.

 

[jeffchapok]

IMHO, the best algae eaters are turbo snails and trochus snails.

I've also got a Sally light foot crab that is a workhorse on GHA. Emerald crabs eat some too, but only at night. Never see them during the day.

I've had better luck with the smaller blue legged hermit crabs than I have with the red ones.

A conch will keep the substrate clear of algae when nothing else will.

And when the GHA gets out of hand, a pincushion urchin will knock it back pretty quickly. A long spine urchin will help too, but mine isn't as active as my pincushion.

I had a really bad GHA outbreak, and a mix of all of the above have finally knocked it back after about 4 months.

 

[Bret Brinkmann]

Astrea snails can't turn themselves over most of the time. Trochus are very good at righting themselves though. Ceriths and dwarf ceriths will clean the sand, glass, and rocks. Had 2 come out of my live rock as babies 3 years ago and still my most hardiest and hardest workers. Nerites usually stick to the glass. I believe they are laying eggs in my tank but too small to tell what they are for now. The astreas, turbos, and chestnuts, seem to be more sensitive to Mg overdosing (1480 ppm Mg and mine were dropping like flies) than the others. Goldring cowries are also very tough and good eaters. They are nocturnal but very cool and unique looking.

 

[Jon Fishman]

Halloween Urchin