I never had one knock over a coral, but I imagine it's possible. They aren't as bad as the diadem urchins, which are just bulldozers, because of the huge spines. Typically mine didn't like the glass very much, they stayed away from it, but if they ran out of algae on the rocks they would venture there. I don't remember seeing them on the sand very often.
Going to LFS for CUC. Any tips?
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Dark_Knightt
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And should I choose pincushion or tuxedo. I dont believe my LFS has tuxedos available...
Yates273
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Pincushion urchins are great I have one and love him. Just keep in mind anything loose in the tank he will pick up and carry around. Mine has actually found things I dropped in the tank and thought were lost. If you have frags and they are not glued yes he will knock them over or pick them up but all in all they are awesome
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Dark_Knightt
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Will he knock over frags that are put in the sand? I have a torch frag that has been dug into the sand, as well as a zoa and xenia frag that ive basically just stuck into the sandbed.
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Dark_Knightt
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I'll just have to find a way to keep the urchin from moving them around then.
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Dark_Knightt
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#reefsquad I've been going through my LFS's website and I see that they have arrowhead crabs. I remember seeing those one time and they are pretty cool; would one work in a 20g reef with my clowns, corals and snails? Would it eat the shrimp I may get, and my hermits? I've heard that is an issue.
xxkenny90xx
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Arrow crabs are a no go in a reef. Actually all crabs are a no go imo. They are killers.... As for the pincushion urchin, they are safe and I kept one for a year and a half. They are really cool butttttt I hated the thing. Yes I glued stuff down but it would still find a way to pick up corals, walk them to the back of the tank, and drop them behind the rocks. Ugh, he had to go!
You also mentioned starfish. The only starfish I'll recommend are brittle/serpent stars. They aren't your typical clean up crew but they will eat leftover food and anything that dies in your tank. I really enjoy keeping them. But they do need spot fed occasionally. All of them but the green brittle are perfectly reef safe
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Dark_Knightt
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Ok so no arrowcrab. Pincushion, bloodshrimp, nassarius, red legged urchins, and maybe a damsel or pyjama cardinal is what i'll do.
Sleeping Giant
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Snails, hermit crabs, tuxedo urchin, emerald crabs can't go wrong. I would hold off and be especially picky with the type of fish you want, it's a decision that can be good or bad, and if possible, setup a QT for new fish.
Maybe get some zoas, always nice to see them.
Maybe get some zoas, always nice to see them.
Sleeping Giant
Proud Canadian Reefer
Tuxedo
Sleeping Giant
Proud Canadian Reefer
They usually stay on rock and glass, not much for sand dwelling
Njdevils1220
Active Member
The only CUC I use anymore is; Springeri damsels for flatworms. Turbo snails, tiger conch or sand sifting star, and nasarius snails and female emerald crabs. I got tired of hermits killing each other and relocating frags.
I personally use reefcleaners.org. If you are able to ship to Canada from them, it's probably the best deal. It is for me at least, but I guess it also depends on LFS.
As for snails - You want Trochus. Do not even bother with the other species unless you don't have a choice. Turbo snails do not tend to live very long. Astrea I have and have bought, but only because Trochus aren't available at my LFS and I needed something. I order Trochus online, but they are in such demand that you can only get limited amounts. I've seen them lay some eggs, but so far haven't noticed any babies(other than the ones I bought).
Ceriths aren't bad either, but mine really don't get on the rocks.
For your sand bed, conch's are awesome. Nass snails are also good, but they don't really clean the sandbed the way a conch will. I have both, and will always keep both. But the nass are more like scavengers, while the conch's will actually eat the algae and such off the surface of the sand bed. Any mixing of the sand a nass will do is really minimal.
Urchins are powerful algae eaters. 1 Urchin is like 10-20 snails in what they eat. I have 3 of them in my sump/refugium to eat algae. However, urchins also take part of the surface with them when they eat. I had painted purple rocks for example, the urchins ate the paint and turns the rock back to white. Paint didn't hurt them. But the real reason I don't put them in my DT anymore is because they got on my branching hammer coral, and they mowed down the stalks on them trying to eat algae off them. Just like the painted rock, they would take more than just the algae. One day, the tops just fell off like a tree being chopped down. So if you have any branching corals, you might skip an urchin.
Cleaner shrimp I will only keep in larger tanks. You can put them in any size tank, but IMO they irritate the coral more than anything in small tanks because they don't have many places to go. They are also food thieves. Yes in my 180g, no in my 25g and 29g tanks. Bloodshrimp is much more shy in my tank. I would personally say it is more "behaved".
I personally like hermit crabs, but beware they are extremely "rude". Some people hate them, I love them. I don't tend to buy other types of crabs.
Also, a damsel and clowns(also damsels) might not get along in a smaller tank. All of them can be territorial.
As for snails - You want Trochus. Do not even bother with the other species unless you don't have a choice. Turbo snails do not tend to live very long. Astrea I have and have bought, but only because Trochus aren't available at my LFS and I needed something. I order Trochus online, but they are in such demand that you can only get limited amounts. I've seen them lay some eggs, but so far haven't noticed any babies(other than the ones I bought).
Ceriths aren't bad either, but mine really don't get on the rocks.
For your sand bed, conch's are awesome. Nass snails are also good, but they don't really clean the sandbed the way a conch will. I have both, and will always keep both. But the nass are more like scavengers, while the conch's will actually eat the algae and such off the surface of the sand bed. Any mixing of the sand a nass will do is really minimal.
Urchins are powerful algae eaters. 1 Urchin is like 10-20 snails in what they eat. I have 3 of them in my sump/refugium to eat algae. However, urchins also take part of the surface with them when they eat. I had painted purple rocks for example, the urchins ate the paint and turns the rock back to white. Paint didn't hurt them. But the real reason I don't put them in my DT anymore is because they got on my branching hammer coral, and they mowed down the stalks on them trying to eat algae off them. Just like the painted rock, they would take more than just the algae. One day, the tops just fell off like a tree being chopped down. So if you have any branching corals, you might skip an urchin.
Cleaner shrimp I will only keep in larger tanks. You can put them in any size tank, but IMO they irritate the coral more than anything in small tanks because they don't have many places to go. They are also food thieves. Yes in my 180g, no in my 25g and 29g tanks. Bloodshrimp is much more shy in my tank. I would personally say it is more "behaved".
I personally like hermit crabs, but beware they are extremely "rude". Some people hate them, I love them. I don't tend to buy other types of crabs.
Also, a damsel and clowns(also damsels) might not get along in a smaller tank. All of them can be territorial.
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Dark_Knightt
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I dont need anymore snails, especially since my margaritas just bred, and now I have about 40 baby-juvenile snails that I am going to have to get rid of eventually. Ive had a cleaner shrimp before, and he was my favorite, so this one is more for personality and color. The urchin is definitely on my list, i need to control this GHA.
As for the fish, I will do more research to see exactly what I like/want, but as of right now I am liking the idea of a (or a pair) or pyjama cardinals. Would a pair of cardinals work with a pair of clowns?
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Dark_Knightt
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Alright so update on how its going:
Ive called one of my LFSs and placed an order:
- 1, i may get a second even third, pyjama cardinal
- 2 nassarius
- 1 turbo snail, which is apparently the size of a golfball to eat my GHA.
- they had no cleaner shrimp or urchins, they just sold out this morning apparently.
- 2 red legged hermits.
I forgot to ask about a frag of rasta zoas, ill call them early in the morning. or at least when they open.
Ill be setting up a small QT for the cardinal(s), in a small plastic tub, sponge filter, please tell me what else I'll need. DO I need to buy medications? If so, which ones?
Ive called one of my LFSs and placed an order:
- 1, i may get a second even third, pyjama cardinal
- 2 nassarius
- 1 turbo snail, which is apparently the size of a golfball to eat my GHA.
- they had no cleaner shrimp or urchins, they just sold out this morning apparently.
- 2 red legged hermits.
I forgot to ask about a frag of rasta zoas, ill call them early in the morning. or at least when they open.
Ill be setting up a small QT for the cardinal(s), in a small plastic tub, sponge filter, please tell me what else I'll need. DO I need to buy medications? If so, which ones?
xxkenny90xx
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No qt for the snails and hermits?
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Dark_Knightt
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They pre qt everything for about 3 weeks so i should be good, but I probably should still qt them all together. do I just feed the hermits and snails seaweed?
Here is my suggestion... more inverts less fish at this point. 1 Cardinal . Buy as many inverts as you want within reason....if they help with CUC then it's a massive bonus. Urchins ya, invaluable in my own setup over the years, if you can stand them moving around pretty much everything. Snails yes, don't get hung up on species, they all munch....brittle or serpent star? Another great addition imo, will clean up detritus in the sand bed and under rock voraciously. Little Hermits always valuable. take it, you are visiting Big Al in Newmarket or Barrie? Or another independent?
No, you dont feed the Hermits and snails seaweed. You feed them NOTHING.
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