Most Cost Effective Place to Buy CUC Online?

[Ceejai777]

Good evening, everyone...my car is broken down so I am unable to go out and buy what I need and want for my tank which is finished cycling. First thing I need to get is a CUC. I would like to buy the following for my 28g nano:

6 hermit crabs
1 brittle starfish
5 cerith snails
4 nerite snails

I don't want to add a large number of inverts and after researching last night, decided this is a good number for my tank size. Does anyone have an online store recommendation that will minimize my cost including shipping? Thank you in advance

 

[DaveK]

It costs quite a bit to ship so few snails and a starfish. So the correct answer to your question is none of them.

You must have a friend or relative that can get you to a LFS even if you have to bribe them a bit with buying gas and lunch, if it's a long trip. Also, you list you city and state on your profile. Perhaps there is another member here that's close to you, and needs a few aquarium supplies also.

 

[Ceejai777]

It costs quite a bit to ship so few snails and a starfish. So the correct answer to your question is none of them.

You must have a friend or relative that can get you to a LFS even if you have to bribe them a bit with buying gas and lunch, if it's a long trip. Also, you list you city and state on your profile. Perhaps there is another member here that's close to you, and needs a few aquarium supplies also.

I have very few friends and only one family member who live near me, unfortunately. I have looked on Craigslist and it seems there aren't many saltwater hobbyists in the Seattle area. I will rack my brain and see who I can get to drive me to Red C in Seattle

 

[Ceejai777]

Should I get fewer crabs and snails if I get a brittle starfish or is what I have listed above ok?

 

[saintsreturn]

I would scale back on the crabs. I ended up giving all of mine away but a small one I have. There is a lot of reading and opinions on crabs, but the bottom line is that if they are hungry they will find food. This includes your snail population. Mine ended up eating snails, a lot, so I have only one remaining


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[nanoreefing4fun]

Free shipping on snails from one of our longtime RS Sponsors with great customer service Reef Cleaners "Quick Crews" RS member John and company owner is "the best" @johnmaloney

The Free Shipping make these great values imo - lots of packages, here is one example

http://www.reefcleaners.org/aquarium-store/quick-crew-15-gallon

http://www.reefcleaners.org/cleaner-packages-with-free-shipping

and here is a Discount Code

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/index.php?threads/permanent-discount.88183/

 

[Pat24601]

+1.

I use reef cleaners for all of my CUC. The one thing is, I think crabs require overnight shipping, which does get expensive,.

I think what I would do with the small CUC you are trying to get is go snails only and get it from reef cleaners (assuming making it to a LFS is difficult). There is nothing wrong with a snails only CUC. Lots of folks here do it and it's way more cost effective in your case.

Grab some crabs one day when you finally make it to a LFS or as part of a larger order when you are buying fish or corals online.

 

[ianthepoolguy]

I'm a great believer in overdoing the clean up crew ... I reckon I've got about fifty snails and thirty hermits in my 50g together with five serpent stars... The difference to the tank was virtually instant: Crabs clean the rocks, stars sift through the sand, and the snails work their magic on the glass...
I've just gone over three WEEKS without cleaning the glass, and only did it then as I spotted some coralline algae on the front!
The trick seems to be, to ensure there's enough food for the crabs to get fed when the fish do, and don't be scared to get one out and "sump" it, if you see it going for snails...


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[Pat24601]

I'm a great believer in overdoing the clean up crew ... I reckon I've got about fifty snails and thirty hermits in my 50g together with five serpent stars... The difference to the tank was virtually instant: Crabs clean the rocks, stars sift through the sand, and the snails work their magic on the glass...
I've just gone over three WEEKS without cleaning the glass, and only did it then as I spotted some coralline algae on the front!
The trick seems to be, to ensure there's enough food for the crabs to get fed when the fish do, and don't be scared to get one out and "sump" it, if you see it going for snails...


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It sounds like I don't go as far as you, but directionally I do the same thing.

So, you "over feed" your fish so the crabs get food?

I think crabs are great.

 

[Ceejai777]

Free shipping on snails from one of our longtime RS Sponsors with great customer service Reef Cleaners "Quick Crews" RS member John and company owner is "the best" @johnmaloney

The Free Shipping make these great values imo - lots of packages, here is one example

http://www.reefcleaners.org/aquarium-store/quick-crew-15-gallon

http://www.reefcleaners.org/cleaner-packages-with-free-shipping

and here is a Discount Code

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/index.php?threads/permanent-discount.88183/

Great deals! Much better than I was able to find. I got 5 tiny hermits and 5 snails but I can already tell they aren't going to be enough. Still lots of stuff on my back wall and they've been in there for almost a week. I'll order from these guys next week, most likely

 

[Ceejai777]

I would scale back on the crabs. I ended up giving all of mine away but a small one I have. There is a lot of reading and opinions on crabs, but the bottom line is that if they are hungry they will find food. This includes your snail population. Mine ended up eating snails, a lot, so I have only one remaining


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I've had crabs eat snails, too, but I prefer to keep both in my tank.

 

[soco]

I agree with the guys. Reefcleaners.org is the way to go in just opened a box from him 10 min ago lol. Way more snails than I bought. He's the man been buying from John for years. He will build u a crew or whatever u need.

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[ianthepoolguy]

It sounds like I don't go as far as you, but directionally I do the same thing.

So, you "over feed" your fish so the crabs get food?

I think crabs are great.

'Not really certain that I am really "over feeding" just that there seems to be a huge amount ends up on the sand, and a huge amount of "movement" around the tank when it does! There's nothing left within a few minutes either.
(Forgot to mention there's a dozen common shrimps on there too... They take care of quote a large amount of the leftovers!)
Seriously, I'll put in a couple of cubes of brine shrimp every day, and there's 14 small fish; does that sound like over feeding?



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[Pat24601]

'Not really certain that I am really "over feeding" just that there seems to be a huge amount ends up on the sand, and a huge amount of "movement" around the tank when it does! There's nothing left within a few minutes either.
(Forgot to mention there's a dozen common shrimps on there too... They take care of quote a large amount of the leftovers!)
Seriously, I'll put in a couple of cubes of brine shrimp every day, and there's 14 small fish; does that sound like over feeding?



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Thanks!

I was just trying to ask how you try to manage your crabs. Sounds like a pretty normal routine to me, which is what I wanted to know.

 

[Ceejai777]

'Not really certain that I am really "over feeding" just that there seems to be a huge amount ends up on the sand, and a huge amount of "movement" around the tank when it does! There's nothing left within a few minutes either.
(Forgot to mention there's a dozen common shrimps on there too... They take care of quote a large amount of the leftovers!)
Seriously, I'll put in a couple of cubes of brine shrimp every day, and there's 14 small fish; does that sound like over feeding?



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They SAY if food touches the floor of your tank, you're overfeeding. I think most of us overfeed. To me, it sounds as if as long as your parameters are in check, you're feeding enough to feed your cuc. I wouldn't want "huge" amounts of food on the sand bed, though. It could be that your cuc and fish are getting overfed

 

[Ceejai777]

Just ordered a snail cuc from Reef Cleaner. Hopefully they will get the diatom bloom taken care of because my current cuc is not doing anything.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Here is a post that I wrote where I was in that stage... may be of show encouragement

brown & green algae in new tanks

 

[Ceejai777]

Here is a post that I wrote where I was in that stage... may be of show encouragement

brown & green algae in new tanks

Good, informative post. As I stated before, this is the oddest cycle I have gone through LOL. Nothing has occurred the way it normally did in the past when cycling tanks.