Which Crabs and Snails to choose?

[CraigWalker]

I am just about to buy a cleanup crew to add to my new reef tank. In the past I have had a selection of red-leg and blue-leg hermits and some turbo snails.

Now I see loads of different types of crabs and snails available and am wondering which I should buy and what advantage do they have over each other?

i.e. are red-leg hermits better than the smaller blue-legs and mithrax crabs, and are turbo snails better than astrea snails, etc???

Cheers,

Craig

[Ray1214]

Here are my preferences:

(Not sure how big a tank you have and I am using a calc for a 75 gal)

1. 3-5 Turbo Snails only if you start to see some algaes. Word of warning, they do get big but I have never seen another snail decimate algaes like they do. They do eat coraline algaes too though.
2. 10-15 Astrea Snails. Stay small and I have never had a problem with them knocking over corals.
3. 1 Fighting or Queen Conch. (Unless you plan to keep a mandarin and/or scooter blenny in the future). Mine keeps the sand bed stirred and eats detrius.
4. 20-30 nassirous snails. Mine replenish themselves and eat detrius. I see babies all of the time. Great Sand sifter, they bury themselves until feeding time.
5. 10 Scarlet Hermits. I like them but they are too expensive to buy in large quantities.
6. tiny Blue Legged Hermits, I have around 30 or so.
7. Note on RedLegged Hermits. I have had some but they grew too big and needed bigger shells and now are contained in a "Bad Crab TAnk".
8. 1 or 2 emerald Crabs. Mine actually eat bubble algae.
9. 1 bristle or brittle star.

That is what I currently have, (plus maybe a couple strombus and cerith snails during live sand swaps or trades)

Ray

[Geoff]

Ray has a great list there. the only thing i will add is if you have both snails and crabs then i would also get as many empty snail shells as you can get. this will keep the crabs from killing off your snails for bigger homes. if you can get all kinds of sizes.

G~

[Ray1214]

Yeah I guess I forgot the shells. I have some Caribsea Aruba shell that I use for the teeny hermit crabs. (My jawfish loves it for building his houses), then I buy the shells by the pound from a guy on Ebay. (I forget his nick)

Ray

[Jimmer]

Speaking of sand stirrers and clean-up I have a couple questions to throw in ( I know...here goes Jimmer, hijaking yet ANOTHER thread )

1. I thought fighting conchs ate detrious and algae, if so why is there a prob with them and a Mandy?

2. I've heard from a couple sources now that Horseshoe crabs are good for sand sifting....Anyone have any input on that?

Thanks and sorry again for stealing yet another thread.

[Geoff]

Hijacker Jimmer-i have no idea about the conchs, hopefully Ray will chime back in, now i am curious also.

Horsey crabs make great sand stirrers, they also make great bulldozers. they are extremely clumbsy. they will know anything that is not literally nailed down. for a FO tank i think they would be good, but in a reef, i think they would cause to much havok.

G~

[Ray1214]

Conchs, I hear the fighting conches will eat small ampods and copepods in the substrate. I may be wrong but I was told that anyways. I have a mandarin and a fighting conch. No worries but I also keep an internal refugium for my pod population. Those fighting conches are cool to watch too.
I agree about the Horsey crabs and another snail that I didn't really mention but I like are strombus snails. Mainly cause they are profilic reproducers. I don't know anything about cerith snails and I like the way bumblebee snails look. (same as nassoiurs in my book).

[Jimmer]

In response to the original question... YES I do know how to respond to a thread and NOT hijack it....

Don't forget about a couple sand sifting stars...Although they really bulldoze the sand as well.

[seamonkey]

I have 15 bumblebee snails in my 55 and they are great. They get into all the little nooks and crannys that my bigger mexican snails can't get into. i had a horseshoe crab and can tell you this don't ever put one in a reef tank it was hell to get out after it destroyed my aquascaping. Heres my clean up crew I have:
15 bumblebee snails
5 mexican snails (aka turbo snail)
1 astrea snail (he or she refuses to die I had the snail for over a year now)
6 red legged hermits
10 blue legged hermits
1 halloween hermit
1 sally light foot (although I beleave it became Eel food )
1 yellow tang who likes to pick at the hair and macro alge I get.

[Prismaco]

Bumble Bee snails are always cool to have.


-Paul