How many hermits & snails per gallon

[tucker]

I am having a slight algae problem in my 20 gallon saltwater tank. It has gotten a lot better after many water changes. However I am wondering how many hermits and snails should I add to my tank to finish off the rest of the algae. I have several different types of algae in there at the moment. Also would their be a specific type of each that I should buy?

 

[Mayja]

The best person to answer this question is from ReefCleaners.org. Here's the link for a custom quote for a clean up crew. You answer some specific questions about your tank and they respond with the amount you'll need and which snails/crabs etc. They did it for me and I couldn't be happier!

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

around one per gallon is what I like

Asterea, Trochus, Cerith, Nerites,Margarita & Nassarius

no crabs here... crabs eat snails

 

[ddelozier]

there are as many opinions on that subject as there are reef tanks in the world. look at the packages on Reefcleaners.org. I've never had issues with their CUC. Beauty is, the quoted price does already include shipping. just order the package for your size tank. Keep in mind, CUC can and do deteriorate over time, needing to be added to periodically.

 

[frisbee]

In a tank that size, I would probably start off with a few turbo/trochus snails and maybe one scarlet hermit. See how they do for awhile and then adjust the population accordingly.

www.ReefCleaners.net is great and all, but some of those packages they sell are a bit of an overkill IMO. Being able to keep a happy healthy reef tank with the least amount of janitors in it is really what you want. Manual labor can go a long ways sometimes.