How many more inverts do I need?

[fishguy777]

Hi everyone I asked ChatGPT, and wanted some clarification. ChatGPT came up with:
15 more turbo snails
10 more trochus snails
20 Nassarius snails
1 tiger conch snail
1 tiger tail cucumber
1 tuxedo sea urchin

My tank is 80” by 26” (240 gallons), 60 gallon sump, 1-2” sandbed across the tank, some spots with no sand due to flow.

I ONLY WANT INVERTS THAT WILL ACTUALLY CLEAN MY TANK. I don’t care about aesthetics

I currently have
22 turbo snails
5 moon snails
5 trochus snails
1 pencil urchin

As far as my livestock goes, here’s where it gets tricky. I feed mysis and formula 2, 2x a day. Large shrimp every 1-2 days. Always some nori in the tank.
Epaulette shark 14”
Blue spotted stingray 16”
Hi fin snapper 14”
Polleni grouper 5”
Bird wrasse 8”
Magnificent foxface 7”
Black shoulder tang 7”
Purple tang 4”
Powder blue tang 5”
Naso tang 8”
Blue throat Trigger 5”
Bicolor goatfish 4.5”
Male square anthias 4.5”
Female square anthias 4”
Female square anthias 3.5”

In qt now
Princess parrotfish 3.5”
Flame hawkfish 2.5”
Slingjaw wrasse 5.5”

Orange mushroom coral
Keyna tree coral

Long term I can see myself adding chromis, easy to keep coral, and an Achilles tang.

 

[fishguy777]

Hi everyone I asked ChatGPT, and wanted some clarification. ChatGPT came up with:
15 more turbo snails
10 more trochus snails
20 Nassarius snails
1 tiger conch snail
1 tiger tail cucumber
1 tuxedo sea urchin

My tank is 80” by 26” (240 gallons), 60 gallon sump, 1-2” sandbed across the tank, some spots with no sand due to flow.

I ONLY WANT INVERTS THAT WILL ACTUALLY CLEAN MY TANK. I don’t care about aesthetics

I currently have
22 turbo snails
5 moon snails
5 trochus snails
1 pencil urchin

As far as my livestock goes, here’s where it gets tricky. I feed mysis and formula 2, 2x a day. Large shrimp every 1-2 days. Always some nori in the tank.
Epaulette shark 14”
Blue spotted stingray 16”
Hi fin snapper 14”
Polleni grouper 5”
Bird wrasse 8”
Magnificent foxface 7”
Black shoulder tang 7”
Purple tang 4”
Powder blue tang 5”
Naso tang 8”
Blue throat Trigger 5”
Bicolor goatfish 4.5”
Male square anthias 4.5”
Female square anthias 4”
Female square anthias 3.5”

In qt now
Princess parrotfish 3.5”
Flame hawkfish 2.5”
Slingjaw wrasse 5.5”

Orange mushroom coral
Keyna tree coral

Long term I can see myself adding chromis, easy to keep coral, and an Achilles tang.

Mostly worried about the :
Parrotfish
Shark
Bird wrasse
Slingjaw wrasse

For adding inverts, as long as the invert has a shell, or some form of protection. I feel like they’d be fine from my other fish (fish without crusher jaws, or beaks)

 

[X-37B]

Hi everyone I asked ChatGPT, and wanted some clarification. ChatGPT came up with:
15 more turbo snails
10 more trochus snails
20 Nassarius snails
1 tiger conch snail
1 tiger tail cucumber
1 tuxedo sea urchin

My tank is 80” by 26” (240 gallons), 60 gallon sump, 1-2” sandbed across the tank, some spots with no sand due to flow.

I ONLY WANT INVERTS THAT WILL ACTUALLY CLEAN MY TANK. I don’t care about aesthetics

I currently have
22 turbo snails
5 moon snails
5 trochus snails
1 pencil urchin

As far as my livestock goes, here’s where it gets tricky. I feed mysis and formula 2, 2x a day. Large shrimp every 1-2 days. Always some nori in the tank.
Epaulette shark 14”
Blue spotted stingray 16”
Hi fin snapper 14”
Polleni grouper 5”
Bird wrasse 8”
Magnificent foxface 7”
Black shoulder tang 7”
Purple tang 4”
Powder blue tang 5”
Naso tang 8”
Blue throat Trigger 5”
Bicolor goatfish 4.5”
Male square anthias 4.5”
Female square anthias 4”
Female square anthias 3.5”

In qt now
Princess parrotfish 3.5”
Flame hawkfish 2.5”
Slingjaw wrasse 5.5”

Orange mushroom coral
Keyna tree coral

Long term I can see myself adding chromis, easy to keep coral, and an Achilles tang.

In my ext 170 60×30×21 I have 50 trochus and 5 turbos. I need to add around 20 more trochus. I like 1 trochus for every 2 g's of water.
They keep my systems clean better than the others I have tried.
I would start with 50 trochus and go from there.
My 170

 

[fishguy777]

In my ext 170 60×30×21 I have 50 trochus and 5 turbos. I need to add around 20 more trochus. I like 1 trochus for every 2 g's of water.
They keep my systems clean better than the others I have tried.
I would start with 50 trochus and go from there.
My 170

How easily do they get flipped over/how often are you flipping them back over? That’s the main way they’d be food in my tank

Do u think more trochus then 1 per 2gallons, because my bioload is so high?

 

[X-37B]

How easily do they get flipped over/how often are you flipping them back over? That’s the main way they’d be food in my tank

Do u think more trochus then 1 per 2gallons, because my bioload is so high?

Yea they sometimes get turned over. I have a Mantis I can't catch and it eat snails now.
What does your system look like?
My system is only 14 months old. I always add trochus from time to time. I have removed around 10 shells in the period of 14 months.
I won't run a system without them.
The 50 I counted are only the ones I can see. Zero algae issues is why I run 2 per g.
I run 4 systems and have zero algae issues.
If it was my 240 I would keep the number at 100. A few die you replace them. Very cost effective if you want an algae free system.
Been running like this for 8 years now with no issues.
1/2 frag system ext 50 1 year old.

 

[fishguy777]

Yea they sometimes get turned over. I have a Mantis I can't catch and it eat snails now.
What does your system look like?
My system is only 14 months old. I always add trochus from time to time. I have removed around 10 shells in the period of 14 months.
I won't run a system without them.
The 50 I counted are only the ones I can see. Zero algae issues is why I run 2 per g.
I run 4 systems and have zero algae issues.
If it was my 240 I would keep the number at 100. A few die you replace them. Very cost effective if you want an algae free system.
Been running like this for 8 years now with no issues.
1/2 frag system ext 50 1 year old.

Tanks at 13 months.

Do u think the bioload of all the snails is worth it?

Also, u ever find a workaround for flipping them over when they are in hard to get to areas?

 

[dvgyfresh]

Tanks at 13 months.

Do u think the bioload of all the snails is worth it?

Also, u ever find a workaround for flipping them over when they are in hard to get to areas?

Get astrea if you are worried about flipping , they can right themselves I’m pretty sure

 

[X-37B]

Tanks at 13 months.

Do u think the bioload of all the snails is worth it?

Also, u ever find a workaround for flipping them over when they are in hard to get to areas?

I don't worry about them. If I see one I will flip it with a plastic rod very easy and you'd need to stick your hand in the tank.
Yes get 20 a week for 5 weeks to speed the cost around is what I would do.
They are worth every penny if you want an algae free system.
I have a few Astra also to get in the cracks. I only use a few turbos because the trochus are not bulldozers.

 

[X-37B]

Do you have a FTS we can see?

 

[Biokabe]

Get astrea if you are worried about flipping , they can right themselves I’m pretty sure

The opposite. Astrea can't right themselves. Trochus can. The reason you'd go around flipping trochus back over is that it takes them time to right themselves. While they're doing that their bodies would be exposed and vulnerable, so they could be predated much easier than normal while righting themselves.

It would certainly be a concern in OP's tank, because he does have quite a few fish that would love to make a snack of a trochus snail righting itself. When astrea flip over they're not quite as vulnerable, mostly because they won't extend themselves unless they sense that they're next to a surface they can attach to. The danger there is that if they flip and you don't notice, they can eventually starve to death or become a snack for something with enough patience and/or force to get past the snail's operculum.

 

[Marco_99]

Already has 22 Turbo snails… Chat GPT: you need 15 more Turbo Snails bud

 

[fishguy777]

Do you have a FTS we can see?