Week 23: Clean-up Crew, How Many Do I Need? | 52 Weeks of Reefing
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
- Week 23 is all about clean up crews! Hermit crabs, emerald crabs, turbo snails, trochus snails, nassarius snails, urchins, and MORE! How much clean up crew do you need in your tank? We recommend less clean up crew than you think you need, here's why.
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Still a very useful video 5 years later. I wouldn't even be considering a saltwater tank without your channel. I have spent hours watching in the last week or so.
Same Cody, they’ve given me the confidence to make the leap, hope you do too… Blessed reefer dreams to you!
Indeed this gave me a great idea
Watching BRS has pushed me to start one. I was intimidated as I’ve kept some extremely low maintenance freshwater tanks, and these videos have convinced me that I can keep a reef
Currently making the leap..
@@ero302 take your time!!
If it helps, here are my notes on what they added to their tank.
Hermit crabs (a few per rock structure)
Cerith Snail (6)
Trochus Snail or Astraea Snail (10)
Emerald Crab per rock structure
Peppermint Shrimp (x2)
Pom Pom Crab (x2)
Blotched Anthias (Fish)
Randalls Goby
Candy Pistol Shrimp (x2)
All those little critters are my favorite part of the hobby, honestly I can take or leave the fish but NO ONE messes with my inverts!
What about the coral 😀
Yeah all inverts are fascinating
Inverts are so cool
Especially the urchins and shrimp
My thoughts as well, love the crawling critters.
Your knowledge of these critters is second to none and the way you explain every detail and delivery it brilliantly. If only I could spell the names of all those snails I need a few of each
hey guys I got a great idea for you. So today I was thinking wow these guys are great and really experienced. Then I said hm I wonder what all their home setups are. I think once a week in between the brs 160 videos like on week days or something you can go through each brs staffs personal set up. I think that would be really cool series and would really love to see what the pros reef tank looks like. What do you think????
+reefer boy that would be pretty cool. i would also like to see the staff's tanks.
+BulkReefSupplyCom hopefully I can see that soon because that would be really cool to see!
reefer boy good idea and I would like that :)
BulkReefSupplyCom hey,need to know something,I have been looking at urchins and outta all these animals it seems tha tuxedo urchin is tha safest,but I need to know will this tuxedo urchin eat my Marco algae???
I got this so far on 75G main,29G sump only tank,
RARE:Marco algae
Red Grape
Green Grage
Orange Sponge
Neon Green/Yellow'ish Sponge
Dragons Tongue
Red Palm Leaf
Blue Hypnea
Some other Marco algae not to important
Blonde blue eyed B!tch Zoanthids
And regular branching neon green polyps or star burst
And
Babie RARE BTA
I need to know cause I got info that says yes and says no
And info on tuxedo urchin I can't find out like I can with other urchins eating everything along with soft corals. Any help I would be hight greatful
Thanks. This must be the best info I ever found. I'm not totally new to this and what I just heard just confirms what I figured out over time. The most valid advice so far.
Definitely agree on getting rid of the astreas. They do a decent job, but too often they fall off the rocks and start dying. I've found that once a few start falling, all of the snails will die within a couple weeks of one another. Recently had this happen with turbos as well. I'm going to stick with trochus, ceriths, and nassarius on my next tank along with some hermits.
I really like invert foucued tanks they are just so neat
Thank you. This has been the first time anyone has said not to add so many crabs and snails to a tank as they are going to die. This may have been a given to experience reefers but I have seen so many people new to the hobby with hundreds of so called clean up crew in their tanks. Then a month or so later they are almost all dead. Great video.
Fantastic video as usual guys. This topic is often neglected in the hobby. There seems to be a very poor understanding of which species are useful and which are not. Good to see a detailed vid covering the topic 👍
I have 1 turbo and 3 hermits for my entire 35 gallon. they've been alive for a long time now and my tank stays fairly clean!
Other than being completely logical to add clean up crew only as the aquarium can support it, its also a great excuse to visit the store. Need snails, see you soon!
Top reefer by my opinion thank you for helping me on my learning of this hobby that i truly have fallen in love with
I die laughing every time he says the words Fang and Sir Chomps-a-lot, such great names
Thank you for these classes. You/they are a Godsend.
hands down the most educational vid iv seen on clean up crew thank you
I WONDERED why suppliers are always selling CUC refresher packs! I learned something today! Thanks for these vids, BRS. It'll be a long while until I can get a saltwater tank, but I look forward to these vids every week, and I'm learning so much. :)
One Trochus and one Nassarius snail in a 20g. They’ve been in the tank for a year and they’re doing great. This single Nassarius is enough to eat any flake falling on the substrate. I rely more on my Collonista Snails for algae control and Bristle Worms for detritus removal more than my Snails. Free CUC is the best CUC.
Awesome vid once again, am just setting up an 840L with 280L sump myself and these vids are invaluable.
Love the your honesty, so many stores try and sell the whole crew knowing you'll be back for more.
I'm in Oz and have found myself some one who i think i can trust in the same way but if i was in the US i wouldn't even bother trying to find someone else, you guy's ROCK!!
Keep up the ridiculously great work
Steps for watching a new BRS video.
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+BulkReefSupplyCom Your videos are fkn awesome even though I don't do salt water . You guys spend 2000 on a filter how about buying a new 4k Camera like the Sony A6300 wich has some of the best 4k around. Thanks.
I really love what you guys do. I agree with reefer boy. I like the idea on the personal home set ups. I'd also like to see if possible, an exact process from beginning to end on a feeding routine. Like I said love what you guy do.
Well said Ryan 👍give me snails every time over 🦀 lost lots of snails and ruined some corals 😫you guys are always interesting 🧐 just wish you had a depot here in uk 😀🏴
I suggest even if you don't have an algae problem keep a small clean up crew ( very small like a snail per 20 or 25 gallons) that way if you mess up the nutrients the tank will still look good
Excellent video. I've been saying this for years.
I have copepods in my evo 13.5 coral qt and when they get thick in there they will eat back film algae off the glass. Between them and the snails I don’t clean the glass inside the tank at all right now. Just have to clean the power head and return off because they can’t hang on to them.
1 snail. 6 blue red crabs. .. good enough for a 110 gal.. no issues. . Fishes and corals still alive. 5yrs plus. Under great skimmer and water change 1 every 3 weeks .. 2 volitan 1 yellow tang.. stars and shrimps
Ps. 30 -40 gal water change
I was thinking, for my 32 Coralife Cube, 5 Nessarius Snails, 5 Hermits, and an Emerald Crab. Now that I've watched this, I know that I need to tone it dow a wee bit. I know two species of fish I'm planning to keep would help with algae control. So now I'm thinking 2 Nessies, 2 Hermits, and an Emerald Crab.
Wow... that was great.
And just makes common sense?
Everything has to have something to eat!
Thanks for another great video!
Eddie
great info. thanks for putting in the time to make the hobby better.
Vtec Bangel
Thanks for all the awesome info you all share in the reefing community, this coming from a new person to the saltwater reefing life!
Of course I just added a 60 invertebrate pack to my 60 gallon tank 2 hours ago and then saw this video.
Couldn't agree more with the clean up crew advice! Far too often I hear overkill amounts of hermits and snails being recommended- most of which perish in a few short months.
And +1 on the Trochus- they're only algae eating snail I'll use other than very occasional ceriths. But finding trochus at wholesale can be super hit and miss certain times of year. I'm surprised no one is mass producing them in captivity yet.
Totally agree with clean-up crew overload... been there and have seen the ill effects of them dying off. Great advice on keep the population small!
+BulkReefSupplyCom A 240g display tank with about a dozen hermits, a handful of nerite snails, about 15 or so cerith snails, 2 serpent starfish, 2 brittle starfish, a chiton and a few tangs. I used to have a few emerald crabs, but they apparently didn't have enough to eat. They did get rid of the bubble algae.
I Like to add a few crabs and snails every couple months to keep the crew going I will say i have had the same Mexican turbo snails for about 2 years. I had no idea they lived that long.
TODAY ON BRS TV!!!
Excellent episode guys. Trochus snails rock!
Great video. Watching some oldies during this mild drought lol. So far I’ve been rocking 2 blue legged hermits and 2 nassarius in my 25 gallon. I was worried some Dino’s I had may wipe them out but they’re still kicking! After a week of blowing off the Dino’s and daily filter floss changing
It’s starting to fade!
Sea-urchins?, in german we call them lake-hedgehogs
I never had much luck with firefishes myself either. That said I might know why but in general they seem to be very fragile
lol i only have 5 hermits, 5 snails and 2 cleaner shrimp in my 85 gallon tank. Algae everywhere.
***** Using granulated sugar as carbon dossing has really helped kill off the algea by cutting the nutrient. It's really effective. Is sugar dosing something you have heard of.
Every time I get a firefish they last a long time then randomly just jump out of the tank. My recent firefish lasted 3 months then one day after work my dog had him in his mouth😅 the way I measure how many hermits to have is for every foot of aquarium 5-10 hermits. Also I can never keep turbos alive, out of 10 I bought over the last 2 months only 1 is still alive.
Great video. I'm glad you made the point of how different variables will affect the amount and type of cleanup crew desired, and that it's not just X amount per gallon. And correct on sometimes adding one specific creature may cause problems with the others. I have some hermits that have become huge and will eat my snails. I have pink urchins which are phenomenal but small snails and hermits will get stuck to their back and die because they can't get free. I got a harlequin shrimp to take care of my asterina snails, but he kills my sand sifting starfish. Mexican turbo snails were great if I had algae outbreaks but they don't last forever and they wreak havoc if you have any coral frag's. I also find that every now and again certain things need to be replenished. They are all very interesting to watch do their jobs and their part in the tank. It also takes planning and research to figure out what each individual's best options are for selection. Thanks BRS for great videos
Firefish are active and happy until they are frightened and goe into shock..I found its best to use Damsels as first fish then remove them to add more mild mannerd fish.
My black occy clown bites my hand every time too....
Amen, I've always thought the 1 snail per gallon guideline was crazy. I've got about 8-9 snails in my 42 gallon. Haven't lost any and seems to be working.
I agree I do 50% cleaner crew so I have a 55 and 125 in my 55 I have a mix of crew hermits blennys shrimp and snails I have 26 altogether and same in my 125 and it was a happy medium for me.
Such a great video, well done. You're sending all the right messages.
I ordered 3 blue leg hermits from live aquaria, they sent me 15. It’s a 13 gallon tank. Luckily there’s plenty of algae for them lol.
+1 on target feeding crabs. Had a pair of emeralds destroy several zoa frags simply from a lack of food.
+BulkReefSupplyCom no clue what mine were, one of the two was particularly large, I loved having them but eating my first zoa frag was a deal breaker!
+BulkReefSupplyCom Thanks for the info as always! And nope, i had just bought them, they weren't in the tank for 3 hours, and they were mowed down. Vicious!
0:45 yup! Bought a healthy fox face and put it in a healthy tank and he died. :( little baby one too. The tank was fine.
Sorry for your loss. Sometimes it's just so hard to determine why a fish passes 😢
@@BRStv I am wondering if my Neon Velvet Damsel bugged him. I've heard Damsels can be a bit of a bugger. (he is also a juvinile though so who knows?) He doesn't seem to bug anyone.
Thank you for the videos BRSTV team. Also thank you to the people behind the website and at the warehouse! Y'all should do a behind the scenes at BRS special; it would be cool to see the whole crew. Then maybe one big group shot of all y'all waving goodbye to close it out. Haha cheers. 🥂
Great video as always, my dad is having trouble with his algae in his tank so I'll show him this video, thanks!
Hey Guys, Love these 52weeks video's. It educated me so much, THANKS
When i the best time to add CUC? I wont be overstocking them anyway as i want them for the life in the tank & not the Cleaning capabilities, that is just a cool extra.
Tank is small, 30gal, so want to add 1 hermit & maybe 2 snails, thats all.
Thanks for the awesome series guys.
Seems mi cycle is complete after 3weeks, ammonia & nitrite at 0 & Nitrate at 3.5. But i didnt get a algae bloom. Added 1 blue legged & fire shrimp. Will be providing them with nori or dried seaweed.
Thanks.
Really awesome that u guys actually reply & interact with your viewers. ACES FOR THAT....
Hope i get a bit of algae so i dont have to worry about feeding these guys.
Enjoy
Take care.
1-2 hermit crabs / 1 snail per gallon established. 1 snail per 10 gallons new tank.
I'd love to see a 500g tank with 500 hermit crabs 😂
Iv never been able to keep a fire fish goby alive. It's funny because most fish stores label them as beginner fish and easy, but iv tried 3 times in 2 different tanks that were both cycled good. One of the tanks had nothing but some crabs snails and a cleaner shrimp along with some mushroom and assorted polyp coral colonies and the other was stocked with lots of sps corals and have a mated pair of snowflake clowns. Both systems are red sea max 45 gallon systems and I constantly monitor both. Never had any ammonia spikes or anything crazy out of either and was able to keep all three fish alive and well in 16 gallon coral life tank that I used for a quarantine tank for 2 weeks before moving them to my actual reef tanks. Needless to say after three attempts I gave up on on the fire fish and went with a yellow clown goby and he's still kicking.
I’m having a hair algae bloom, i siphon the rocks twice a week and just added 15 Astrea snails. It’s a 20g aio cube, after they devour most of it I’ll split them between the 20 cube and 40 breeder
I'm curious, did you use tap water or RODI water?
@@childofgod724 rodi, also I don’t have an algae problem that bad anymore. Went from like an 8 down to a 3 id say
@@Jp-gc6bh oh ok! Thanks for replying! I just started my own saltwater aquarium, cycling is barely on 3 weeks now and I cant seem to get the Ammonia levels down to 0. Last time I checked was a few days ago and it said 25ppm. I use RODI water too. I'm now seeing tiny brown spots on my dry rock. I wonder if this is normal.
@@childofgod724 have you added bacteria? Bacteria’s eat at the ammonia and convert it to nitrite than nitrates, add a bottle of fitz turbo start or dr.tim if you haven’t already, how exactly are you cycling? Did you manually add the ammonia like how the dr.Tim way of cycling is? If so you maybe over dosed. I’m new to reefing and my first tank was in July and my most recent was cycled in November. Normally by the second week I barely had ammonia on either tank. First tank was cycled with live rock/sand and a bottle of fitz. My second tank which is a 40 breeder was cycled with dry rock and live sand using dr.tims method. And those brown spots are most likely diatoms. Are your lights on? I wouldn’t cycle the tank with the lights on because Algae will grow
@@Jp-gc6bh I added a full bottle of instant ocean's bio spira right after I added all of the RODI water. I'm now cycling my 40 gallon with the lights off. I made the mistake of cycling with the lights on the first week. I have 40 pounds of Aragonite sand, I'm going to need to buy a better water heater. I used Instant Ocean salt. I'm trying to do this sumpless with an Aquaclear 70 for mechanical filtration (please don't judge me folks) I am not adding any livestock until I see the parameters are where the need to be. Salinity levels are in the range they need to be. My PH is just 8.0 so it needs some work. My Nitrites are at 0 and my nitrates are at 10ppm.
Thanks for the video. I did pick something up! I actually started having algae issues after I purchased a large clean-up crew for my tank. I had also been ramping up my lighting periods with T5s on for 12 hours and MH for 8. Time to make some changes.
lmfao the boxer crab always kills me
I just saw your clowns on the counter at a little reef shop in Cape Coral. Nice channel / good info
Astraea snails suck, once they fall game over. Nerite have done awesome in my tank and very hardy, turbos rock but they will knock over everything lol
I have a 32-gallon BioCube that has been up and running for 2 weeks. They told me to put two per gallon, so I have 64 Mixed crabs and snails.
I don't have any fish yet so I've been feeding a little bit.
But it looks like a fight club in there!!! Everybody's fighting and killing each other!!! I now know not to do that again!!
Yikes! That's a lot of clean up crew. Everyone has their own slightly different philosophy on the right number, but for most of the nano tanks around the BRS office, we'll add 5 or so trochus snails, a couple nassarius snails, and call it a day. The nice thing about trochus snails is that they breed easily in the home aquarium, so you won't likely have to buy them over and over again.
my trochus reproduced while i was on vacation. but when i had astreas they actually where better at algea removal.
Sad to hear about the firefish. Good video though, love the tips on clean up crew selection.
Fantastic.
i'm from Turkey and most of the things that u talked about are not aviable in Turkey but i love your channel whe i see new video uploded, i take my caffee and watch it , i ll be more happy if we can order your goods from amazon ,like rox 08 actived carbon which is not aviable
Awesome video with awesome information.
I have a clean up crew in a fairly new tank with no fish....Should I drop a pinch of frozen brine shrimp in the tank every day since they've almost eaten all the algae already?
set up:
13.5 gallon tank w/skimmer
1 blue & red hermit crab
1 turbo snail
1 Trochus Snail
2 Nassarius Snails
Instead of frozen food, consider using a rubber band and attaching some nori seaweed to a piece of rubble rock. This way, your clean up crew will have an easier time finding the food and catching it, rather than the food just going into your overflow and getting caught up in your filtration system.
A small pack of this will last you a long time: www.bulkreefsupply.com/nori-sheets-bulk-reef-supply.html
Will do thanks agen for all u guys do
Wow I loved this video and all of them I just subscribed
Thanks!
Oh wow a clean up crew on two rocks
I have 1 hermit, 2 snails, and 2 skunk cleaner shrimp. My 30 gal is just fine
Hi from London, UK! You guys are simply the best- i wish you were closer! Here is my question:
Do you know any way of manually feeding sand sifting starfish?
holy shit i was about to buy 30 snails for my nano. thanks for the info
Cool. I have a plecostomus in my freshwater tank
Hi there! Thank you for your great videos!! How do you clean your sand during maintenance? Thanks!!
Love this series. I'm buying my first home in a month and can't wait to get a saltwater setup going. I've some 350 gallons of mixed freshwater tanks but always wanted to do a reef once I have a bigger (and permanent) fish room. What's a good size for starting? I was thinking around 200 gallon with a big sump- making it easier to have consistent parameters in a larger water volume.
Firefish need lots of copepods and amphipods
+paandemonium, +bulkreefsupplycom
Thanks for the responses.....My tank is done cycling and I have my Percula Clowns in my QT waiting for the transfer to the DT. They have been in there for a month now. As long as Iv'e had to wait before transferring them, I hope it was well worth the wait. I will buy my next couple of inmates and go through the process again.
I think it might be a little too early for a CUC sine I have nothing at the moment as means of food for them. But these snails are definitely on the "Want" list. They definitely look cool........
thanks again
that helps a lot. thank you!!! I was about to buy a pack of 50 clean up crew. 8 clouding 6 emerald crabs which I love. but for my 55 gallon probably would have ended up sad in a few weeks. I think I'm going to watch this again and order one of each for now. I'm thinking that would be good. but I might get 2 emeralds their just so damn cute!!! maybe I can hand feed them???
Could you recommend a light for a 25/30 gallon tank that will aid in coral growth. Something not super expensive possibly
Lighting will depend a lot on your tank's dimensions as well as the type of corals that you'll be growing. That said, I would suggest taking a look at the AI Prime. Great light that balances affordability and performance. It's very likely that you'll only need one or two of them depending on the dimensions/coral types.
ruclips.net/video/k7d4ih_MKzg/видео.html
When would you add cuc to a new aquarium? When ammonia and nitrite are at zero?
I fell for this 10 years ago bought 300 snails and 100 hermit crabs witch was a package for a 125 gal tank and it turned into a nightmare algae in every inch of the tank witch eventually led me to sell my tank cause I couldn’t balance everything
I dont even have a saltwater, I just like the vids, but I have to say, I have mystery snails with my fish but it's only their leisure to eat algae. Because I love them as much as my fish, snails get their own food as well as what they scavenge. People need to stop treating "clean up crew" members like they're expendable.
Excellent advise.
Should you add the CUC before or after the tank has cycled? Also, if you add them after the tank has cycled, then should you add them with the first fish so there is a constant food supply?
+BulkReefSupplyCom Thanks.
I would do somewhere around the order of 20 snails and hermit crabs so as to keep the competition to a minimum.
Super helpful , thank you!
Funny you suggest one per ten gallons. That's what I stock in my 72 gallon total. No more than seven of any kind of snail. :)
Can't thank you enough for the info.
I’ve got 6 crabs and 6 fish in a 20 gallon, when I feed pellets these guys come out and eats the pellets
TBH I want algae growth, plant growth and coral growth
Wouldn't cleaner shrimps be considered a safer permanent alternative to peppermints since peppermints seem to be almost guaranteed to eat corals at some point? Not to mention they can clean your fish as well? I know I've had to get rid of peppermints in the past. I'd prefer to add/remove them as needed when aptasia pops up.
Maybe many of the issues people have are keeping them well fed. Check out this image: i.imgur.com/9ViRy4i.png. I did notice my local store tends to carry Boggessi, when apparently we really want Wurdemanni. Thanks!
Great video! Are there stores in the Twin Cities that have better supplies of some of these clean up creatures than others?
+Brian's Fish Tanks saltwater empire is usually good. if not in stock see if they can get some with there next order.
tcmas members might have a some to get rid of if you ask.
Great advice.
What would you say would be acceptable nitrate levels for the addition of snails and crabs?
If your nitrates are below 10 ppm- 15 ppm or so and all of your other water parameters look good, then adding a small cleanup crew is acceptable.
@@BRStv thanks for the input, I've had my tank up and running for about 4 months and following your recommendations to help get through the ugly stage haven't really had too much algae aside from some dinos on my live rock. Nitrates are about 15 to 20 PPM ... Should this be okay for a pistol shrimp, some snails, emerald crab?
@@helwrj28 Give it a quick water change to knock back those numbers a bit and you should be good to go.
I'm o positive they try to move from the frags there on and fight just to get first drops
Whats your opinion on TRAPEZIA RUFOPUNCTATA - SPOTTED TRAPEZE CRAB?
Would scrubbing a rock in a tub of Rodi / freshly changed or even new saltwater to remove stubborn hair algae or algae's in general a good idea? Or do you think that it would cause any type of nutrients spine once added back?
Hello , what kind of species was the white crabs with dark spots , very bizzare and cool. Thanks
Oh boy another good video.