Best Clean Up Crew for a Red Sea Max 250

Stuart1962

Member
Hi guys, I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what I should buy for a clean up crew for my Red Sea Max 250, I will be starting my cycle on 07 July with live sand and live rock (25kg) any advice would be much appreciated.
Many thanks
Stu
 

Mark9

Has been struck by the ban stick
I'm a fan of Trochus and Astraea snails and a fighting conch.
And nassarius snails when you get fish.
I'm not a fan of hermit crabs, but others are.
 

Mark9

Has been struck by the ban stick
Some starfish will actually deplete the food in the sand then starve.
 

DianaKay

Princess Diana
RS STAFF
Snails were my choice. But be sure to WAIT until your cycle has completed and your ammonia & nitrites have held at ZERO for a few days consecutive. You'll need to do your 1st water change (WC) before adding them.
Most of the time there will be plenty algae for them to "clean up" before you put them in.
Hope you start a tank thread & share your progress & pictures with us :)
I also agree that sea stars do more harm to our 250 sand beds than good & then they die. I had one & it seemed to do OK...after I found out that it was destroying my good microfauna in my sand bed, I returned it to the LFS.
Most new to Reefing don't realize they get to 12 inches across & there's just never enough food in our systems to keep them alive.
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
I love snails for cuc ! ...around one per gallon is what I like

Asterea, Trochus, Cerith, Nerites,Margarita, Nassarius and Mexican Turbos

You can start off a new tank 1/2 this many, than add more in a few months
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
I have 2xAsterea, 6xNassarius, 1xfighting conch, 3xMexican Turbos (2 turbos would be plenty for rsm250). And I have many Cerith and many Nerites (too many to keep track of for both cerith and nerites, I replenish these once a year). I also have some hitchhiker snails, collonista(s). I also have three species of hermit crabs, 3x blue leg hermit, 3x red leg hermit, 1x Hawaiian dwarf zebra hermits. Shrimp are also great for cuc: I have 2 skunk cleaner shrimp and one peppermint shrimp.

Agree with Di, wait until the tank cycles before adding snails/crabs (do a huge water change to bring down the nitrate levels).
Add nassarius and shrimp after first fish - they both help to clean up uneaten fish food and fish poop.
Agree with Glenn, add half the amount of snails at first, then add the rest 4-6 months later, the reason is that you want to make sure you have enough algae for them to eat. If you add your whole cuc up front, there may not be enough food for all and you will end up loosing some to starvation.
 

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
Does anyone have recommendations of where to get cuc? I'm not sure my LFS will have what everyone is recommending. (They might, but I haven't noticed.)
 

Mark9

Has been struck by the ban stick
Hi guys, I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what I should buy for a clean up crew for my Red Sea Max 250, I will be starting my cycle on 07 July with live sand and live rock (25kg) any advice would be much appreciated.
Many thanks
Stu

FYI
Astrea snails can be a PITA when they fall and cannot right themselves.
Be prepared for constant snail flipping.
Margarita snails are generally a colder water temperature snail, may not be best suited to an 80+ RSM tank.
Turbo snails will knock things over and again, be a big PITA.

IMHO Trochus snails are one of the best snails you can get.
Yes, i've had them knock over the odd frag, but you'll be hard pressed to find a better snail.
And for the sand bed, a fighting conch can't be beat.

And, reefcleaners.org is not perfect.
Totally screwed my order, didn't believe me when i told him 80% of the snails were dead on arrival, then gave me a lousy 6 bucks credit.
 

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
I have a noob question.

When I ran freshwater tanks, a snail or two could easily turn into a snail horde and take over you tank. Getting rid of then was then a pita.

I don't see a lot of comments like that here. Is that not really an issue or is snail control just second nature so no one mentions it.
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
My snails have reproduced, but never enough... like what your are thinking I don't believe - I never see post saying they have too many ;) in sw
 
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