When to Add CUC and what to add?

[rporter996]

I'm new to reefing and have a couple question on my first tank. I just got a pair of clowns 2 weeks ago now and I'm starting to see some diatoms appear on the rock and sand bed. I have a 20g IM nuvo tank and I'm wondering when and what I should add for a CUC. I know your not supposed add a lot of livestock all at once and gradually increase the bioload. I'm wondering if adding like 10 snails and a cleaner shrimp at the same time would be okay? Also should I quarantine these(don't have a quarantine setup yet.) or is just a temp and drip acclimation okay?Also what do you guys think I should add I definitely want a cleaner shrimp in my tank i know that much but what for snails? I plan on having some LPS corals in the future when the tank has matured more.

 

[SnazzyUrchin792]

I'm pretty new to reefing too, but here are my recommendations. I would recommend trochus or astrea snails. nassarius and cerith are also good unless you want dwarf hermit crabs. I just temp acclimate.

 

[Reef Psychology]

The simple answer is, as needed. Once you start seeing a film of algae forming on the glass it's time to add a few snails. Once you see stuff collecting on the sand bed, start adding hermits. I'd start with a pod bottle from Algae Barn first actually.

 

[rporter996]

The simple answer is, as needed. Once you start seeing a film of algae forming on the glass it's time to add a few snails. Once you see stuff collecting on the sand bed, start adding hermits. I'd start with a pod bottle from Algae Barn first actually.

How many snails would you say to start with? I'm getting some alage on the glass as well as the brown on the sand and rocks

 

[rporter996]

I'm pretty new to reefing too, but here are my recommendations. I would recommend trochus or astrea snails. nassarius and cerith are also good unless you want dwarf hermit crabs. I just temp acclimate.

Okay any idea on cleaner shrimp?

 

[PotatoPig]

If you want to control micro algae like diatoms then get some copepods. They’ll eat the diatoms, then the fish will eat them.

If you do this I suggest dumping half the container in the tank and then culture the other half for a steady supply of pods. Culturing this critters is very easy - you basically need an air pump, some 1-3 gallon containers and some food for them. They’re not very fussy.

 

[Reef Psychology]

How many snails would you say to start with? I'm getting some alage on the glass as well as the brown on the sand and rocks

There's no hard and fast rule. After 2 years I still only have 3 snails in my 45g. Truthfully, they really don't contribute much. I just have them for the biological/ecological benefits they may bring. Pods are really the most beneficial part of your cleanup crew. You can't hardly see them, but they are seriously good additions to any tank. Start with one or two Mexican Turbo's. They are hardy and do quite well IME if your tank runs under 79 degrees. See how it goes with them. Then add pods, just do it in near darkness and follow Algae Barn's acclimation instructions. Then look into nassarius snails after adding the first fish(s) if you have a sand bed. They do a great job sifting through the sand keeping it turned over. Don't worry about numbers right now. Emerald crabs should go in if you start seeing hair or bubble algae - otherwise, they'll probably not survive more than a month or two in brand new tanks. Cleaner shrimp can go in once other inverts are in the tank and surviving (don't put one in until you know your tank is fully stabilized and thriving).

 

[Tamberav]

I started up my 25g again recently and started with 5.. added 3 more a week or two later. I had some live rock I tossed in that was full of pods and micro brittle stars and bristle worms.

I like trochus the best for snails.

Keep in mind cleaner shrimp like to annoy LPS because they are greedy as all heck for food and tend to stomp around.

 

[rporter996]

If you want to control micro algae like diatoms then get some copepods. They’ll eat the diatoms, then the fish will eat them.

If you do this I suggest dumping half the container in the tank and then culture the other half for a steady supply of pods. Culturing this critters is very easy - you basically need an air pump, some 1-3 gallon containers and some food for them. They’re not very fussy.

So I'm assuming this would allow me to "grow" them and always have them on hand? What kind of food do I feed them.

 

[Willhersh34]

Timing is one of those contentious things. It’s chicken and egg stuff. You need CUC to work on the unwanted stuff in the tank but you need fish to create the waste the CUC survives on.

At this point pods are your first add. Algae Barn sells a number of varieties. I personally prefer Ecopods but you really can’t go wrong. If you culture your own, and to answer your question, you feed them phytoplankton (I could be wrong about that; I’m going by Algae Barn info). Which then leads to culturing your own phyto. I personally just buy both when needed but that gets expensive pretty quickly.

For snails I do a combo of dwarf cerith. Florida cerith, nassarius for the sand sifting, and turbos. For shrimp I typically do a coral banded but that’s with caution. They like to nip at things so you have to watch them with corals. I also do a peppermint shrimp. They kill aiptasia if you have the right genus/species and also scavenge. I’ve had mixed results with cleaners. As noted above they are greedy and I have had zero luck keeping them alive for more than a few months which is likely my fault so take that for what it’s worth. Hermits are another contentious thing. I use blue leg and scarlet reef. They will certainly eat snails and occasionally nip at corals so again exercise caution. Those to seem to be the lesser of the hermit evils.

I highly recommend going to www.reefcleaners.org. They are my go to for CUC. John, the owner, is very good to work with. Send him an email with your tank volume and stocking level and he’ll give you a recommendation on what to go with. Fair warning: his recommendation will include a LOT of snails. Cut it in half and you should be good to go.

 

[rporter996]

Timing is one of those contentious things. It’s chicken and egg stuff. You need CUC to work on the unwanted stuff in the tank but you need fish to create the waste the CUC survives on.

At this point pods are your first add. Algae Barn sells a number of varieties. I personally prefer Ecopods but you really can’t go wrong. If you culture your own, and to answer your question, you feed them phytoplankton (I could be wrong about that; I’m going by Algae Barn info). Which then leads to culturing your own phyto. I personally just buy both when needed but that gets expensive pretty quickly.

For snails I do a combo of dwarf cerith. Florida cerith, nassarius for the sand sifting, and turbos. For shrimp I typically do a coral banded but that’s with caution. They like to nip at things so you have to watch them with corals. I also do a peppermint shrimp. They kill aiptasia if you have the right genus/species and also scavenge. I’ve had mixed results with cleaners. As noted above they are greedy and I have had zero luck keeping them alive for more than a few months which is likely my fault so take that for what it’s worth. Hermits are another contentious thing. I use blue leg and scarlet reef. They will certainly eat snails and occasionally nip at corals so again exercise caution. Those to seem to be the lesser of the hermit evils.

I highly recommend going to www.reefcleaners.org. They are my go to for CUC. John, the owner, is very good to work with. Send him an email with your tank volume and stocking level and he’ll give you a recommendation on what to go with. Fair warning: his recommendation will include a LOT of snails. Cut it in half and you should be good to go.

I did email reef cleaners and yeah they recommended a lot of snails lol

 

[TheBear78]

Just be aware that too many in the tank will likely cause a few to starve. Its easy to overdo and as all of the recommendations above are highlighting, many suppliers may over exagerate the actual requirement.
In my 110 gal I initially put 1 Trocus and 4 Nassarius snails along with 4 hermit crabs. Since then the Nassarius have multiplied a little to approximately 10 but they've been ample.

 

[PotatoPig]

So I'm assuming this would allow me to "grow" them and always have them on hand? What kind of food do I feed them.

Right. They’re a major natural food source for many things (fish and corals) in saltwater tanks, so expect your tank inhabitants to chomp down on them whenever they get a chance.

They eat detritus, algae and phytoplankton. For culturing them an easy route is to feed them spirulina (powdered algae, you can buy it on Amazon or at Whole Foods - it’s a human food also) - you just mix up a small amount (1/4 teaspoon) with water and dump it in about once a week until the numbers get up. There’s others on here who dump a banana peel in and just leave it to get eaten by algae and then the pods eat that - I don’t have personal experience of that though. Phytoplankton is probably the most labor intensive as it’s another thing to culture - so extra equipment and stages, or you can buy it regularly but storage is a bit of a pain and costs add up.

Once it’s up and running use a strainer to swipe though the water to pull some out and dump them in the tank.

 

[rporter996]

Right. They’re a major natural food source for many things (fish and corals) in saltwater tanks, so expect your tank inhabitants to chomp down on them whenever they get a chance.

They eat detritus, algae and phytoplankton. For culturing them an easy route is to feed them spirulina (powdered algae, you can buy it on Amazon or at Whole Foods - it’s a human food also) - you just mix up a small amount (1/4 teaspoon) with water and dump it in about once a week until the numbers get up. There’s others on here who dump a banana peel in and just leave it to get eaten by algae and then the pods eat that - I don’t have personal experience of that though. Phytoplankton is probably the most labor intensive as it’s another thing to culture - so extra equipment and stages, or you can buy it regularly but storage is a bit of a pain and costs add up.

Once it’s up and running use a strainer to swipe though the water to pull some out and dump them in the tank.

What about maintenance on this "tank" does it need water changes and to be cycled and all that??

 

[PotatoPig]

What about maintenance on this "tank" does it need water changes and to be cycled and all that??

No real maintenance. No cycling. Pods are hardy and DGAF about water quality. Below is an ammonia test I did on one thriving batch before I cleaned out their container and restarted.

Basically about every 2 months harvest off as many pods as you can into a new culture and clean out the vessel then restart it.

 

[rporter996]

No real maintenance. No cycling. Pods are hardy and DGAF about water quality. Below is an ammonia test I did on one thriving batch before I cleaned out their container and restarted.

Basically about every 2 months harvest off as many pods as you can into a new culture and clean out the vessel then restart it.

Oh okay!

 

[Wyatt57]

I was told i could add hermit crabs before I had added any fish.

 

[Willhersh34]

I was told i could add hermit crabs before I had added any fish.

You can but the question becomes what and/or how much they have to eat. It is not very likely you’ll have hair algae or much waste for them to clean up. The timing is a delicate balance and from my experience if you don’t have enough waste or algae for the crabs to eat they’re going to die off.

Adding them first isn’t going to hurt but I personally have waited until I have a fish or two in the tank to ensure the hermits have enough to keep them fed and occupied.

 

[wil-yuhm]

I'm new to reefing and have a couple question on my first tank. I just got a pair of clowns 2 weeks ago now and I'm starting to see some diatoms appear on the rock and sand bed. I have a 20g IM nuvo tank and I'm wondering when and what I should add for a CUC. I know your not supposed add a lot of livestock all at once and gradually increase the bioload. I'm wondering if adding like 10 snails and a cleaner shrimp at the same time would be okay? Also should I quarantine these(don't have a quarantine setup yet.) or is just a temp and drip acclimation okay?Also what do you guys think I should add I definitely want a cleaner shrimp in my tank i know that much but what for snails? I plan on having some LPS corals in the future when the tank has matured more.

Suggesting Cerith snails.
My tank recently hatched hundreds of Cerith snails and as a result my sand bed as well glass are clean.
Cerith snails burrow into my tank's sand bed during daylight aerating and cleaning deep. During moon or no light conditions burrowed Cerith snails surface covering rocks and glass. While some Cerith snails are on glass and rocks during daylight most of them seemingly prefer under rocks and burrowing. Cerith are wonderful reef janitors and have no problem up-righting themselves. Unlike Trochus snails too Cerith snails tend to remain within my tank whereas Trochus find their way outside (lidless).
I never really noticed any advantage from adding hermit crabs other than competing for shells.

 

[rporter996]

Suggesting Cerith snails.
My tank recently hatched hundreds of Cerith snails and as a result my sand bed as well glass are clean.
Cerith snails burrow into my tank's sand bed during daylight aerating and cleaning deep. During moon or no light conditions burrowed Cerith snails surface covering rocks and glass. While some Cerith snails are on glass and rocks during daylight most of them seemingly prefer under rocks and burrowing. Cerith are wonderful reef janitors.
I never really noticed any advantage from adding hermit crabs other than competing for shells.

Thanks for the help I'll definitely keep them in mind!!