[crousec]

I have seen all sorts of clean up crew packages online and my LFS has a different preference, so I figured I would get even more opinons. I have a 35 G reef tank that has just cycled and this is what I am considering for my clean up crew... does anyone see any problem w/ this, i'm new to this and didn't want to have any trouble..... 1 red spotted blenny, 1 emerald crab, 10 Astrea snails, 5 turbo snails, 1 sand sifting starfish, 5 blue legged hermit crabs, and 1 cleaner shrimp. should this be sufficent?? Thanks for the input.

[dhboyd1]

The only thing I would question is the red spotted blenny because they usually go in a well established tank (6months or older). Your first fish should be a chromis if you are going to do fish now. As soon as you put any livestock in your tank it will do a mini-cycle again and the chromis is up to the task of helping that along, plus they are very docile and will get along with most anything you put in there in the future.

[Jeremy0322]

I know with the Star that if you planning on putting one in soon you should also plan on buying another one to replace it in about 6 months. From what i have read on RB they dont do very well in new aquariums so you may want to wait on that one for a while. Water Quality has to be g-r-e-a-t for a sand sifting star to survive i thought, but i may be wrong with that. Little help guys..

[rlcline76]

I don't do the packages...I think they are overkill. I have 2 20 gallos and the sand sifting star seems like it would be too much.

That being said, I go with what I need. I have a few turbos, a few margaritas, a few ceriths, nassarius snails, some hermits. Other than that, I have black brittlestars, a couple of peppermint shrimp (mind you, I have more than one tank), and all the free bristleworms and microstars I can handle.

[Waterlogged]

Are you sure you want your sand sifted? They eat the beneficial stuff in sand.

[stephaniesquires]

Originally Posted by rlcline76

I don't do the packages...I think they are overkill. I have 2 20 gallos and the sand sifting star seems like it would be too much.

That being said, I go with what I need.

Yep - I agree... I have a new 240 gallons. Since there are no fish yet I am keeping the clean up crew fairly small. Just enough to keep the algae under control. I have 6 Turbo snails, 6 Nassurius snails, some hermits, 2 small stars, 2 abalone, and a few other things. That's it, and I have a lot of LR...
I went to Marine Depot live and checked out their packages. I then got about 1/3 to 1/2 of what they suggested for a 100 gallon tank.
It's easy to add more, but if you have too many then what do you do..

[RGRDGR]

Snails and Hermits are all you need for now.