cleanup crew

[reefworried124]

for my 40 gallon with 50 pounds of Live rock, what type of cleanup crew would be good? I heard turbo snails and blue/red leg hermits, but how many of each? I notice there is alot of seaweed and green algae growing all over the rock.

What about lyanassa snails??

[jibber]

hmm...well, i can't remember what they are called, but the snails i have (about 20-25 or so in a 55) are real hardy and they have pointed, kinda pinkish, shells. they are much prettier than other snails i've seen and were recomended from a highly reputable dealer.
i also have about six hermets, though ask your dealer what are the least predatory cause i have a real cool looking hermit that has black and white legs, and two blueish claws(one is much larger than the other) that is constantly going for my snails. he got a couple already, i'm constanly scolding him, though i don't think he speaks english cause he totally ignores me.
anyway, then i have a couple of emerald crabs, and a decorater crab(which is one of my favorites) and depending on how old your tank is i'd get a lawnmower blenny too(real cool fish), though i killed mine do to the alkalinity and calcium not being where it should be.
hope that helps ;]

[Cosine]

stock up on mexican turbos, ceriths and nassarius!
to me they are the way to go
people get all types of numbers ummm
I think some people say one snail per gallon but that isn't set it stone
maybe it's 1 for every 2 gallons
I can't remember how many I have in my tank cause I've added a bunch at different times.
I also have astreas they are fine but turbos are better.
I have some hermits too but I'm not sure how good they are. they do pick up food the fish miss but cleaner shrimp take care of that anyways.
well hope this ramble helps some!

[SPANKYSREEF]

check out aquacon or liveaquaria for referance. They have crews put together for each size tank. It will give you an idea of what type and how many of each critter to get....HTH

[jibber]

astria turbo snails! that's what they are. they are much prettier, very hardy, and they get the job done. ;]

[rottielover]

I just orderd a big order from Keys Critters

I have a 125g and I got :

50 Astrea
100 Cerith
3 cukes
misc crabs to fill out the order The critter's will be here next week tuesday! YEA!

I already have a small army of blue legged hermits (about 20) and 5-6 reg legged's...

My LFS has been unable to get any snails, and I only started out with 10 astrea's and 2 mexican turbo's, but that was back when I had ALK problems and didn't know it and I only have 2 astrea's left. They are unable to keep up.

Oh ya, I got 10 bumble bee snails too in there and 1 Sand sifting star...

I plan on getting a couple of colored starfish cause the wife likes them.

I figure that I purchased a few too many snails for my tank, but given the suicide rate of astrea's and snails in general I think I'll be OK with clean up crew for a while. I may have too many actually but I doubt it

One peice of advice that I followed was asking my LFS for a free handfull of old snail shells in all sizes, plus I added 1/2 a basket my wife had picked up off a beach in florida a few years back. It's really cool to see one of the hermits pick a neat shell to use as it's home. I have one red legged that shocked me with his choice of shell!! I thought that shell was way to big for him, but he loves that thing!

I'll have to try and snap a pic of him hauling it around, it's quite funny, but beautiful at the same time. Personally I think it add's dimention to my tank.

I think I should mention that I have fat fingers when it comes to feeding time, so my plan to keep a large clean up crew is on par with my fat fingers. If I could get my wife to feed the tank I wouldn't have a problem

[Phishnoob]

I love nassarius and cerith snails and put about ten of each in our 55 in addition to 25 or so turbo/astreas. Our 29g has only one blenny and a coral beauty in it now so there are about five clean up critters for a token appearance until we decide what to do in there. There are a bunch of shrimp (we like shrimp) in both tanks of various kinds.

In our 90 FOWLR the only thing that lives are a few big turbos so the clean up crew in there is a 2 inch vacuum tube that connects to the sink.
Also, we did not have the best luck with any kind of hermit except the electric blues if you can find them. They are peaceful and big and pretty.

[jibber]

cool! those astreas are sweet;] and the electric blues are nice too. i don't know what this other one i have is. he keeps picking on my snails and i just caught him fighting with one of my emeralds(and he was sooo the instigator) but i like him anyway, and there is only one of him so he should be fine.