Need to re-think my CUC

b4tn · Mar 28, 2016

I started off with an all snail CUC. It was the 75 Gallon reefcleaner.org package for my 75 Gallon Mixed reef.

74 Dwarf Ceriths
25 Nassarius
27 Florida Ceriths
20 Nerites

I guess a handful of crabs got mixed in with the shipment. I must have pulled 5 of them out but there are more that have indiscriminately killed almost all of the larger snails I am guessing to look for the perfect shell. I still have a ton of the tiny ceriths that only come out at night but they dont seem to do much on the rock work or sand sifting.

So my question is I am looking to add to my cleanup crew. I clean my glass weekly myself so not to worried about that. I want to add a good sand sifter. I was thinking of a fighting Conch but I think its just too big and dont want it crawling over or knocking over frags on the sand. And something good at picking away algea on the rocks. My foxface and Yellow tang dont seem interested in picking. My Coral Beauty picks at the rocks a little but doest go for uneaten food. Should I ditch the no crab idea and get a handfull of blue legs? Maybe some sort of star? I also have a corris wrasse in there.

sbreefco · Mar 28, 2016

Fighting conchs usually stay in the sand, but Nassarius snails are great at keeping the sand stirred. Astrias or Ninja Stars are my favorite snails, they seem to be very hardy and do a great job cleaning the rocks.

Oceansize · Mar 28, 2016

If I had to do it all over again, I would avoid crabs altogether. They are more trouble than they're worth. Eating snails, knocking over frags, and not any more effective at cleaning than my best snails.

My favorite snails are Turbo and Margarita, they both spend a lot of time on the rocks. Between those two, I like the Margarita snails even better. They are small enough to get in cracks and crevices that the Turbos cannot, but go everywhere: rocks, glass, powerheads, other equipment, and they do a good job of eating algae along the way. They are also reproducing at a good rate, which means the new ones are getting into even smaller nooks & crannies.. None of my other snails appear to be reproducing.

My nassarius and cerith are never on the rocks, only the sand.

Babylon snails are beautiful and good sand sifters, but maybe too large to have enough to make a difference. I have one and love it, but I don't know what good he does. He glides over the glass without appearing to eat any algae. The colors and patterns on his mantle and shell are captivating.

tankstudy · Mar 28, 2016

I've had all types of snails in the last couple years but my favorite would be the ceriths. They are small and when they aren't bothered by fish or other creatures, they work very hard. They are generally nocturnal so they work during the night. During the day, they love to bury themselves in the sand bed, so if you have a lot of them they shift your sand pretty much daily. As soon as they emerge at night, they start working on anything that contains what they eat, whether it be on sand or rock. Mine will even clean algae growing on my zoanthids and palys.

They can flip themselves over but sometimes they will need help.

I don't like the other snails because they become gigantic and they really knock over or annoy corals. I once had a turbo the size of my fist, lol.

My current nuvo 20 has 5 cerith snails. That is the entire CUC.

Oceansize · Mar 28, 2016

Huh, my ceriths have shown zero interest in my rocks or glass, only my sand.

tankstudy · Mar 28, 2016

Oceansize said:
Huh, my ceriths have shown zero interest in my rocks or glass, only my sand.

Have you been observing them at night or day?

Oceansize · Mar 28, 2016

Both. I rarely see them during the day if ever, unless I'm broadcast feeding something particularly yummy. But as soon as the lights go out, they pop up out of the sand and go to work. They seem to use their foot more for pushing themselves along one big lunge at a time, as opposed to using their foot to glide over surfaces. Thus I've always assumed they're not good at climbing vertical surfaces, since they don't appear to use their foot for sticking to things, just pushing.