Need more invert ideas!

[Indytraveler83]

One of my favorite parts of my fledgling reef tank is all the biodiversity it offers, something My freshwater tank just can’t match.

I’ve been good about adding fish very slowly, but find myself more obsessed over the inverts anyways.

Tank is: 54 gal corner. 60ish lbs of live rock. All parameters have been steady and normal, with alk being fairly high.

All fish will be reef/invert friendly, and I plan on having softies, anemonies and maybe some lps in the tank.

Current intentional inverts are:
Various hermit crabs (most small, one large)
Tons of different snails
1 Skunk cleaner shrimp
3 Emerald crabs

Hitchhikers include:
Small feather dusters
Peanut worms
Bristleworms
1 or 2 very small brittle stars
A growing colony of pods

I intend to try for a goby/pistol shrimp pair at some point too. I like the look of fire shrimp, Pom Pom crabs and sexy anemone shrimp. Urchins and clams look cool, but not sure I really understand them well enough yet...

Looking for ideas or suggestions on more inverts that will get along with the rest of the tank, not eat corals and not crash the tank if they happen to die. I’d love to get some unusual stuff, but have seen the tragic results of poor research play out on this forum (such as a sad thread on a sea cucumber decimating a tank when it died). I’m starting to run across conflicting compatibility recommendations as well.



Any starfish a good match? Any other shrimps or crabs? Anything unusual that I just wouldn’t have thought of?

 

[sfin52]

brittle stars, hermit crabs, feather dusters just some ideas. Just stay away from green brittle/ serpent stars. Those are fish eaters

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I've got a bright orange serpent star that is my favorite creature in the tank (he's hard to photograph though) and he was cheap (about $12 I think)! I also just picked up a seahare which is awesome but you have to be sure to get the species that won't die and poison the whole tank and they need lots of algae to eat. Inverts are awesome, tagging along to see everyone's recommendations!

 

[LabradorGirl]

I absolutely love my tuxedo urchin. She picks up things around the tank to “dress” herself. We nick named her the the Thrift Shop Diva. She would even snag green algae from my Naso’s Hagar clip and wrap it around herself. Sometimes she would even give the snails and feather dusters a ride around the aquarium. She’s a hoot!

 

[sfin52]

a very mature tank for a sea hare. Dolabella Sea Hare are the most common. The eat a ton of algea. You need a tank that can grow loads of it or supplement heavily. They are a true hermaphrodits. They will lay eggs in the tank. They won't hatch and nothing will eat the eggs. Def a cool critter. Have had on in my tank for almost a year.

 

[Phycodurus]

i am a big big fan of ornamental fancy shrimp like the Anclyomenes, Periclimenes, and Urocaridella genera. most stay under one inch and seem to be okay with each other. sexy shrimp also come to mind.

(i also share yr fascination for all the invert fauna in the tank ... just today i found what i swear must be tunicates).

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Was just reading @melev's post about tiger sea cucumbers. I wonder if that might be a good fit.

 

[Indytraveler83]

i am a big big fan of ornamental fancy shrimp like the Anclyomenes, Periclimenes, and Urocaridella genera. most stay under one inch and seem to be okay with each other. sexy shrimp also come to mind.

(i also share yr fascination for all the invert fauna in the tank ... just today i found what i swear must be tunicates).

Are they just sold as ornamental shrimp? Those are very cool.

 

[Indytraveler83]

Was just reading @melev's post about tiger sea cucumbers. I wonder if that might be a good fit.

Very interesting, though cucumbers scare me! I’ll have to find that post...0

 

[Mikedawg]

Tiger striped fighting conchs; what's not to like?

 

[Hyde2406]

Tampa Bay saltwater his rocks come covered with all kinds of crazy stuff, I got multiple porcelain crabs sponges feathers etc but I'll never have another tank without porcelain crabs

 

[rkpetersen]

Porcelain and anemone crabs, especially if you plan on keeping anemones (but not required.)
A pair of Harlequin shrimp. They are gorgeous and fascinating to watch, but will only eat starfish (and will do so very aggressively.)
If you want a special feather duster, take a look at the hard-tube Coco worm. They are elegant and pretty hardy.
Money cowries are very attractive and reef safe snails.
If you're not going to have Harlequin shrimp, you could consider the various Fromia and Linkia stars; reef safe, although they generally don't survive for that long.

 

[Hyde2406]

Porcelain and anemone crabs, especially if you plan on keeping anemones (but not required.)
A pair of Harlequin shrimp. They are gorgeous and fascinating to watch, but will only eat starfish (and will do so very aggressively.)
If you want a special feather duster, take a look at the hard-tube Coco worm. They are elegant and pretty hardy.
Money cowries are very attractive and reef safe snails.
If you're not going to have Harlequin shrimp, you could consider the various Fromia and Linkia stars; reef safe, although they generally don't survive for that long.

+1 on the coco worm very cool critter

 

[Indytraveler83]

Very cool ideas so far, giving me a lot of options. I’m going to a huge lfs on Sunday that I’m hoping to get corals and inverts (but trying to keep myself from adding anymore fish just yet...)

Loving all the crab ideas, I think the Pom Pom and porcelain crabs would be great options. I’m going to have to make some decisions on shrimp, as I haven’t entirely decided whether to try and keep starfish or not, as I know some will eat them.

I’ll keep the coco worm on my radar, as I think my local lfs actually has some. Some of the other ideas on here are really cool too. I’ve still got 2 days till I visit, keep the ideas coming and I’ll let you guys know what I picked up!

 

[Indytraveler83]

Ok guys I scouted today, buying tomorrow:

They have a huge coral selection so I will be partaking in that. I’m also torn... I said I wasn’t going to buy fish, but they have a monster selection of reef safe wrasses...

But my main question:

How big are Pom Pom crabs and porcelain crabs when you buy them? I was expecting something similar in size to the emerald crabs I have, but their Pom Pom crabs are about the size of a dime, and the porcelains would fit on a nickel.

At $20 each, I’m scared I’ll loose them in the rock, or as a snack to some of my bigger CuC. My hermits and emeralds are monsters in comparison!

Thoughts on the crabs?

 

[Phycodurus]

i usually see pom pom crabs and porcelain crabs anywhere from the size of a nickel to the size of a quarter. they won’t get much bigger. the porcelain crabs have this pair of very cool filter-feeding claws that they sway back & forth.

i can’t see hermits trying to make a meal of them ... large emeralds might possibly make an attempt but i think that’s low risk.

(respectfully, i would limit yr tank to just one emerald crab for a 54-gal tank, maybe two; they get kinda large and can be more aggressive).

btw, i don’t know of any shrimp (other than harlequins) that will eat starfish ... or vice-versa.

have a great time at that LFS!

 

[rkpetersen]

btw, i don’t know of any shrimp (other than harlequins) that will eat starfish ... or vice-versa.

Bongo shrimp are also specialized starfish predators.
They'll eat asterinas, which is great, but also micro brittle stars, which makes them less desirable.
Available at Diver's Den pretty regularly.

 

[rkpetersen]

Pom poms do stay very small and will disappear into a large tank, but that doesn't mean they're dead.
Just the other day I happened to see one that I hadn't seen in over 6 months.
Really surprised me because I figured it was long gone, eaten by something or just expired.
And there are hermits and emeralds in the tank too, but clearly the pom pom can fend for itself.