MVP: Tell us about your cleanup crew! Who's on the team and who's the MVP?

[dmy535]

Conch! And turbos! They took care of the minimal diatom stage I had. Only started a few days after complete cycle, but they quickly took care of business and I haven’t had any algae or diatoms since adding them!

 

[clhardy5]

Conch! And turbos! They took care of the minimal diatom stage I had. Only started a few days after complete cycle, but they quickly took care of business and I haven’t had any algae or diatoms since adding them!

Yep.. I just got two turbos and a Conch yesterday....They are single handedly decimating my post cycle diatom bloom.

 

[hans4811]

Tuxedo urchin MVP

Most snails seem to die, have a few nassarius and a conch left but all trochus and nerites die.

Scarlet hermits are a favorite for they're activity and clean up efforts but they don't scrub.

Might want to check your magnesium level if they're dying off. High levels can kill snails....

 

[Roytrolls247]

A Bunch of turbo's and some blue legged hermit crabs take care of my tank. Do Tangs count a CUC? they really manage my algae #Proudfishdad

 

[Beau_B]

Might want to check your magnesium level if they're dying off. High levels can kill snails....

Thanks, have checked, but it's always worth looking again. I even had a thread about it, only conclusion was starvation. Still a mystery. I do have some survivors, but overall they die despite good water and no predators. Oh well.

 

[Alchameth]

Torn, I've and Astrea snail that's a beast and all but single handed kept a BioCube 32 clean. Originally had 6-9 of these across my tanks and he's the lone survivor.

Good, bad, or otherwise my Tux urchin is a lawnmower, easy to tell where it's been grazing.

But, probably have to go with a pair of Nass snails that has been pretty solid and spitting out little baby snails. No less than 11 in this pic I snapped one morning. I try to count every now and then and got over 65 one night not counting the 2 big ones that are responsible for the borgish invasion. May have to start rounding them up and selling some at some point I'm sure.

 

[Sparrow1617]

I hardly ever buy any CUC unless there is something specific that I need, or something that I like. I collect my own CUC from the ocean.
They include:
Fire shrimps - store bought
Turbo snails - store bought
Hermit crabs - caught
Nasarius snails - caught
Sea cucumber - caught
Sand prawn - caught
Periwinkle snail - caught
Sand shrimp - caught
Sea urchins - caught

Then theres the critters that I started seeing in my tank without adding them myself. I do however use natural sea water for my water changes. Not sure if they count as CUC but they do form part of the bio diversity and the balance of the eco system.

feather duster worms
Spirorbis worms
Copepods

 

[David S]

I have a Serpent Star (going on 9 years) that takes care of at least part of the sandbed.
2 or three red legged hermits (got them the same time as the Serpent)
3 Astrea snails (4th passed on yesterday). I've had them for a few years, as well as some Nassarius.
But my "Star" is the Tuxedo Urchin I picked up several months ago.
He does a great job of devouring algae.
Now, if he would only stop picking off individual Zoa polyps, not to mention the colonies he tries to "wear".
I am considering adding some Bumble Bee snails in an attempt to keep Vermetid snails under control.

 

[Kapachuka3]

Mine is probably my fighting conch, he usually eats a lot of algae and stuff but has been asleep and under the sand a lot with his mouth up out of the sand.

 

[sorloe]

Turbo snails.