What is the best clean up crew

[ciaolong]

just want to see what people think what is the best clean up crew.

like how many snails hermit crabs and shrimps in a tank.

i heared some ppl dont like hermit crabs coz they detrimental to a healthy reef tank.

i just what other people thought

[Clownfish]

it realli depends on wat u wanna clean up

algae? macro? nuisance? cyano? hair? diatom? coralline?

detritus?

so wat u wanna clean up?

diff inverts r used for diff purposes...

[ciaolong]

i think for me i really want to get rid of hair and detritus, been looking at bristle star fish or a sea cucumber.

[Dazza]

algae = sea urchin ( but can be over efficient n you end up with botak rocks)

sand = sea cucumber

i hv many hermits and i find they love snails haha... .luckily i hv plenty of snails

leftover food = goat fish but it snot a favorite amongst fellow reefers

[ciaolong]

lol yeah my 3 hermit crabs must of eaten all my snails... cause i have none left cant find them anywhere >.<

[Clownfish]

for hair algae, u might wanna try the emerald mathrix crabs....

[williammuk]

I keep two Sally Lightfoot crabs to pick on the algae.

[marble]

it realli depends on wat u wanna clean up

algae? macro? nuisance? cyano? hair? diatom? coralline?

detritus?

so wat u wanna clean up?

diff inverts r used for diff purposes...

Hw abt diatom???

Who love to EAT IT????kekeke

Anyway,read in a book tat if diatom appears,its an indication tat e tank is fouled n tat is e normal bacterial balance is upset....

Can someone enlighten me wat does tis mean???My fishes all still survivng inside leh???huh...Sound of scary leh e word they use..."Fouled tank n bacterial bal upset"

Mine is a new tank,abt 3wks liao n aft use T5 for 3days, diatom still to APPEAR....... Formerly i use onli PL tube....

[diabolus]

Low flow and over feeding.

this is usually the cause for a diatom bloom.

[marble]

Low flow and over feeding.

this is usually the cause for a diatom bloom.

im using ehim1260 n welpro skimmer....for a 3by1.5by2ft

now onli got 3 small fishes n 2 cleaner prawn...

Im feeding them mtk prawn n mysis ....

usually they finish it leh as i nvr feed them much....

Its when e T5 lgts r in 4days ago to replace e pl lgts then tis start to happen....

huh......

[diabolus]

the bloom is caused mainly by your new lights. having a strong flow and few or no dead spots will help get rid of them.

you might also want to cut down on your photoperiod, if u have no corals....off the lights totally for a few days.

[Clownfish]

if it's diatoms on ur glass, dun worry, veri normal one.,...

buy some snails, they will eat them.... though not completely.....

botomline is to scrub ur glass with the magnets once or twice a week loh...

[fishnchips]

got inverts clean up cyano meh??

[Clownfish]

got inverts clean up cyano meh??

heard before... i personally nv try before...

anyways for cyano on ur sandbed, place 1 more powerhead that blows across ur sandbed....

good water circulation prevents accumulation of dissolved nutrients thus prevents cyano

[Dispar_Anthias]

Theres no such thing as best clean uup crew,,, IMO is the combination of diff clean up crew that makes your tank clean up successful

[williammuk]

heard before... i personally nv try before...

Really? Can share what critters clean up or eat cynobacteria?

I haven't heard before leh ...

[marble]

Really? Can share what critters clean up or eat cynobacteria?

I haven't heard before leh ...

err...sorie...

im getting alittle confuse....

brown algae on LR n glass r call diatom...CORRECT???

Those brown algae on sandbed r call cyno????Is it??

Anyway,have jzt get a jewel benny to try maka these diatom stuff....Dun noe reali got use anot??Cant get snail as i got 1 hermit crab..Scare he kill e snail n pollute e tank...sigh.....

[williammuk]

brown algae on LR n glass r call diatom...CORRECT???

Those brown algae on sandbed r call cyno????Is it??

I think both brown algae on glass or sand or rocks are also called diatoms.

Cynobacteria are not really algae. It is usually dark purple/maroon red in colour. It can appear on sand or glass or rocks.

There's also something called dinoflaggates (spelling?). I'm not sure if it looks the same as diatoms.

[Lin]

Tis is cyno..

[ciaolong]

ewwww ... that doesnt look nice to have in the tank lol

[kareen]

algae = sea urchin ( but can be over efficient n you end up with botak rocks)

I constantly harvest a little of marco algae from refu. to feed sea urchin, tangs, etc instead of throwing away.

[ciaolong]

are sea urchin easy to keep ?

[kareen]

I only bought one and only one. Still alive and kicking. My feeding is simply harvesting the algae in refu. to feed him, say once a week. **Assuming ones' tank is in okay condition.**

[kareen]

....actually is pretty easy to keep one.... Refrain from any copper medication you might put to treat fish diseases.

[Clownfish]

err...sorie...

im getting alittle confuse....

brown algae on LR n glass r call diatom...CORRECT???

Those brown algae on sandbed r call cyno????Is it??

Anyway,have jzt get a jewel benny to try maka these diatom stuff....Dun noe reali got use anot??Cant get snail as i got 1 hermit crab..Scare he kill e snail n pollute e tank...sigh.....

Brown algae, Bacillariophyta is mostly comprised of single celled plants which we called Diatoms....

That's y usually we call them by diatom directly...

These r found in aquariums with high levels of silicate and often accompanied by poor lighting conditions...

IMO, this is hard to prevent if u r using tap water and cannot afford alot of rowas like me.... so constant scrubbing of the tank glass is needed