Cleaning crew question

[123and456]

I have a reef system thats around 100 gallons and I am looking to get some inverts or other cleaning type animals for it but am lost as to what will be the best to get. The fish I have now are chromis, and two clown fish. I also have plenty of snails. The corals that I have are soft coral, zoas, and a couple lps. I have a 3" sand bed in the display. Tank is well over a year old. Any help would be great I know that its been discussed before but I was having a hard time making sense of everyones different opinions.


Here are some things that I think I am going to get as of now let me know if they will be good with the current stock.

Coral Banded Shrimp 2
Some type of a crab 1
Scooter Blenny 1
Hermits 10-15
Long Spine Urchin 1

Any other interesting compatible inverts would be great.

[Dingo Dog]

Asteria Snails, sand sifting starfish, sand sifting gobie, hermit crabs, cleaner shrimp. They're all reef safe. Personally, I'd cross off the urchin and get a cleaner vs. the banded coral shrimp.

Granted, Urchins look cool but will engrave your LR as it munches along. Also, I'm not sure if that urchin is coral friendly.

Banded coral shrimp are good for the sand but might not tolerate other shrimp. IMO cleaners are better because they do a good job of keeping the fish clean of parasites. I don't know if a banded coral will do the same.

[Dingo Dog]

I found this comment about the Banded coral shrimp in another web page. Hope it's helpful?

"The banded coral shrimp are probably not a good choice for reef aquariums because they have a tendency to pinch at corals and anemones looking for food."

[ledford1]

I'd suggest a Skunk Cleaner over a CBS, for the benefit of the fish and is more friendly to other shrimp on the tank.

Hermits aren't always good. Crabs are opportunistic feeders. Sometimes they kill snails, depending on the type of hermit, but you don't have any snails listed. And I would prefer to have an assortment of snails over hermits.

The Longspine is cool, but be aware that it will go after your coralline, if that might bother you. And urchins are clumsy, so some things might get knocked around.


... Just a few thoughts...

[123and456]

I am really wanting the long spine and I can deal with the knocking things over and the coralline isn't a big deal. I have a lot of snails and at the moment I only have 3 hermits. Would skunk cleaners and peppermint go together?

[123and456]

Would a conch be a good addition?

[Dingo Dog]

No to the conch and yes cleaners and peppermint get along just fine. That's why I recommended the cleaners over the banded. Keep in mind that you probably won't see the peppermint as they tend to hide in the rock and come out at night.

[ROB2005]

Sand sifting gobies and stars I would not recommend in your tank if you care about your sand bed being live. The reason why I say that is that they eat the critters in your bed that make it live, basically turning it into a dead sand bed.

But, it is totally your choice if you want to add them.

[killagoby]

I've had a long-spine, Tuxeudo, and a CBS in a 29 gallon reef. The only one that did damage was the long spine. My CBS and Tuexedo were great. Personally, I saw a pincushion urchin that was white with bright purple spines. That was by far the coolest Urchin I've ever saw.

[Dingo Dog]

No offense but I don't agree that one sand sifting goby can deplete all nutrients in the sand bed rendering it dead. I had a sand sifting goby for about 2 years with no problems.
The only caution I would add is not to have a goby and a mandrin because a goby will compete for the copepods which are the mandrins only food source.

[ledford1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11100194#post11100194 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 123and456
Would a conch be a good addition?
I have a conch in my 90, and really like the guy. It'll sift your bed and eat diatoms and detritus. If you go that route, make sure you get the Fighting Conch (S. alatus) which will get 3-4" and not the Queen Conch (S. gigas) which can grow to 12".

[Dingo Dog]

The only thing I have against the conch is just like turbo snails, due to their size they knock over corals. They're good cleaners.

[ledford1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11103882#post11103882 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dingo Dog
The only thing I have against the conch is just like turbo snails, due to their size they knock over corals. They're good cleaners.
Where the turbos will go all over the glass and LR, the conch will stay on and in the sand. If you have corals or frags there, the conch may bump into them.

[123and456]

I think that tomorrow I will be picking up a few additions to the tank.
Long Spine Urchin
Fighting conch (I have no corals on the sand bad and dont plan on it anytime soon.)
2 peppermint shrimp
2 cleaner Shrimp

Anyone have any ideas of a good crab to get?

[killagoby]

It all depends on what rype of algae you have. If you have bubble algae, get a Mythrax Crab. Read online to see what each one eats and what they are compatible with. Some crabs are not reef safe!

[123and456]

I got my long spine urchin today and have a question do these things ever move around during the day? After acclimation I put it in the tank and it moved around for a couple minutes and now it is just in one place not moving at all for the last two hours. It did move a couple spines for a few moments and thats it for the last two hours.

[killagoby]

It might take about 24 hours before it gets adjusted to the tank. Make sure your levels are stable.

[saltysupply]

go with astrea's, ceriths and maybe mexican turbo's