natural reefkeeping - the clean up crew

[surfn]

when i kept freshwater planted tanks, the best way to keep the tank in balance was to add certain types of fish that would eat certain types of algae etc.

i've tried to do the same with saltwater tanks, but there isn't really as good of a fine line with what inverts/fish will eat what.

i'd like for everyone to contribute their knowledge of what inverts/fish will eat what, so we can all strive to obtain a diverse clean up crew to help keep our tanks in check as natural as possible (without the need of mechanical or chemical devices to get the algae out).

here are a few examples:

-peperment shrimp and aptasia
-emeralb mathrix crabs and bubble algae
-i've had good success with conchs eating bryopsis if its short enough and not too thick
-mexican turbo snails?
-trochus snails?
-margarita snails?
-super tongan nasarius snails (i love these guys)
-saltwater mollies to keep algae in check (interested in feedback about these)
-yellow tangs (obviously they will mow down calurpa patches)


feel free to add more, this should be educational for everyone.

 

[surfn]

hmm, that looks like a marshal island electric blue leg hermit crab.....

the halloween hermits that my LFS sells are UGLY, all black and orange and look like mean little guys, something i'm not sure i would put in my tank.

i've had 2 of those electric blue legs in my nano tank a couple years ago, they never lived more than a couple weeks though so i stopped getting them, that and they knocked over everything like you mentioned. lol ;)

 

[surfn]

here is the halloween hermit that liveaquaria sells, i wonder if they are all the same species but come in different colors...
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1639

i've had good sucess with hermits when they are small, the dwarf blue legs, dwarf reg leg (although more of a maroon), and zebra hermits (when they are small), they've all become a pain in the butt when they got large enough to take an astrea/margarita/jumbo nasarius shell, and have since been banished to my mantis tank when they get that large.

 

[fishes2889]

Cucumbers-known for taking out dead decaying matter by filtering it out of the reef or detirtus. I have ssen that they actually lift up off a rock and actually feed off the water column, filtering it.

I have also seen my Green Emerald or Mitrax crabs muchin' on GHA.

Steve :)