katarian Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 Hi again everyone, I am setting up my 55gallon tank, and it's under going the cycle right now. But I was wondering what is a good cleaning crew to add once the cycle is over? Since yesterday I can see Diatoms growing. Sent from my SM-N915V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joestotz Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 I would get a tiger conch for the sand maintenance they work there butts off. Some people put a snail a gallon in the tank i think it's a little much. I have a 40 gallon I have a mixture of 20 snails and two big Mexican turbos which are bulldozers. (They knock everything over that's not glued down) I have around 12 blue leg hermits which is to many but I feed them to my octopus. I would do 5 per 40 gallons. That's all I have I might get an emerald crab but I don't have hair algae so it hasn't been a priority. They keep my tank pretty clean. everyone is going to have a different amount and opinion this works for my setup and water quality it may or may not work for you. Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexinverts Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 Hi again everyone, I am setting up my 55gallon tank, and it's under going the cycle right now. But I was wondering what is a good cleaning crew to add once the cycle is over? Since yesterday I can see Diatoms growing. Sent from my SM-N915V using Tapatalk Go see Dale at Animal House Pets here in Corvallis. He can answer any question you may have. He also has lots of options for cleanup crews. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katarian Posted July 27, 2016 Author Share Posted July 27, 2016 I would get a tiger conch for the sand maintenance they work there butts off. Some people put a snail a gallon in the tank i think it's a little much. I have a 40 gallon I have a mixture of 20 snails and two big Mexican turbos which are bulldozers. (They knock everything over that's not glued down) I have around 12 blue leg hermits which is to many but I feed them to my octopus. I would do 5 per 40 gallons. That's all I have I might get an emerald crab but I don't have hair algae so it hasn't been a priority. They keep my tank pretty clean. everyone is going to have a different amount and opinion this works for my setup and water quality it may or may not work for you. Good luck! Thank you for the suggestions I'll certainly keep them under consideration Sent from my SM-N915V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katarian Posted July 27, 2016 Author Share Posted July 27, 2016 Go see Dale at Animal House Pets here in Corvallis. He can answer any question you may have. He also has lots of options for cleanup crews.I have been going in there quite a lot. But I don't think I have ever met Dale. Sent from my SM-N915V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexinverts Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 I have been going in there quite a lot. But I don't think I have ever met Dale. Sent from my SM-N915V using Tapatalk Dale is the owner. He's an older guy with glasses and a mustache. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katarian Posted July 27, 2016 Author Share Posted July 27, 2016 Dale is the owner. He's an older guy with glasses and a mustache.Yep never met him. I have only heard about him haha Sent from my SM-N915V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milesmiles902 Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 I think Animal House is a reasonable place to start. Dale knows a lot and he has all the cleanup crews you need. Snails for the sand, snails for the rocks, hermits, sand stars and crabs are the most common. I think if you are looking for bulk, you should head up north to the many fish stores in Salem and Portland area. A lot of them have bulk deals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katarian Posted July 27, 2016 Author Share Posted July 27, 2016 Are cleaner shrimps any good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milesmiles902 Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 Shrimps are important!!! They each have their own purpose and that is how you should gauge them...but in my novice opinion: cucumbers ≤ shrimps ≤ sand stars ≤ crabs ≤ snails < hitch hiker worms (Not AEFW or Fireworms) I tend to buy them as I notice problems in my tank. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashy Fins Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 A lot of it is personal preference and dependent on your other livestock. For instance, I like to have a small urchin in every tank, since I don't keep herbivore fish. I avoid crabs because I don't trust them around snails or meaty LPS corals (my favorite kind). Your tank might be completely different. Overall, I'd say it's hard to go wrong with nassarius snails to clean up leftover food and banded trochus snails for algae. There are others that work well, too, but some cannot flip themselves upright if they fall over, so it's worth considering whether you want to do it for them (I don't). Peppermint shrimp are good for aiptasia control, but they do tend to steal food from corals, so I wouldn't get a bunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean.G Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 That's funny you haven't met dale yet I don't think I have ever gone in and not seen him there. In my opinion Nassarius aren't the greatest. They do eat left over food quite well but they don't touch algae in my tank, or stir the sand bed too much (I was always told they are good sand sifters). They also steal food from my corals when I feed them! Someone above mentioned a tiger conch, I just got one a week or two ago and he has been great at cleaning up the sand and lower parts of the rock. Although I don't think animal house has them, I got mine up in Salem. Cleaner shrimp are awesome and mine is one of my favorite parts of the tank but they don't really clean much. Just your hands/arms when ever you reach into the tank. This is what I have in my tank anyway its a 21 gallon display. 5 Nassarius snails, 4 Astraea snails, 1 tiger conch, 1 emerald crab, and 1 beesnail. They do a pretty god job for me. I wouldn't add all these right after the cycle though maybe just start with some Nassarius and algae eating snail like Turbos, Astraea or the many others. Some Hermit crabs if you are into them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katarian Posted July 27, 2016 Author Share Posted July 27, 2016 That's funny you haven't met dale yet I don't think I have ever gone in and not seen him there. In my opinion Nassarius aren't the greatest. They do eat left over food quite well but they don't touch algae in my tank, or stir the sand bed too much (I was always told they are good sand sifters). They also steal food from my corals when I feed them! Someone above mentioned a tiger conch, I just got one a week or two ago and he has been great at cleaning up the sand and lower parts of the rock. Although I don't think animal house has them, I got mine up in Salem. Cleaner shrimp are awesome and mine is one of my favorite parts of the tank but they don't really clean much. Just your hands/arms when ever you reach into the tank. This is what I have in my tank anyway its a 21 gallon display. 5 Nassarius snails, 4 Astraea snails, 1 tiger conch, 1 emerald crab, and 1 beesnail. They do a pretty god job for me. I wouldn't add all these right after the cycle though maybe just start with some Nassarius and algae eating snail like Turbos, Astraea or the many others. Some Hermit crabs if you are into them. Thank you I'll take it slow then Sent from my SM-N915V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badxgillen Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 No need to add any specialty animals before there is food for them, if you are going through your diatom bloom then I would just grabs some small blue leg hermits and maybe some astrea, trochus, or small turbo snails. I do like cerith snails but in a 55 you would need a number of them. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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