Neptune Aquatics

Ever run a tank without a cleanup crew?

kinetic

kinetic

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Has anyone successfully kept a tank without a cleanup crew?

Are they *really* needed for non-specialized pest control?

I like them because of the diversity of animals in the tank, but I still have to manually clean the tank either way.
 
Fish are far faster than inverts at algae control.
And in most cases the “clean up crew” dies off within the first year.
IMHO
I would throw a few CUC inverts in but be more specific about the individual and species
 
kinetic said:
Has anyone successfully kept a tank without a cleanup crew?
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No- assuming you mean all living creatures that eat stuff other than the food you add.
kinetic said:
Are they *really* needed for non-specialized pest control?
Click to expand...
Yes- assuming you mean common algae and cyanobacteria when say pest (based on your other posts)
kinetic said:
I like them because of the diversity of animals in the tank, but I still have to manually clean the tank either way.
Click to expand...
I recall last time you tried to keep algae in check and your rock/sand surfaces pristine with manual cleaning only (or mostly?) and it resulted in an unstable system that was very frustrating for you.

The goal is to get tolerable benign algae/bacteria/coral covering all the surfaces ASAP so the pathogenic variety that’s harder to control can’t take hold. In order to do this, you can’t be aiming for a perfectly pristine tank with manual cleaning.
 
JVU said:
No- assuming you mean all living creatures that eat stuff other than the food you add.

Yes- assuming you mean common algae and cyanobacteria when say pest (based on your other posts)

I recall last time you tried to keep algae in check and your rock/sand surfaces pristine with manual cleaning only (or mostly?) and it resulted in an unstable system that was very frustrating for you.

The goal is to get tolerable benign algae/bacteria/coral covering all the surfaces ASAP so the pathogenic variety that’s harder to control can’t take hold. In order to do this, you can’t be aiming for a perfectly pristine tank with manual cleaning.
Click to expand...

Yes, there was definitely something weird going on and a pretty big imbalance. I was constantly hitting rock bottom nitrates and phosphates, then I got dinoflagellates that roared in as soon as I started dosing nitrates/phosphates directly (which should have been a red flag to begin with). Ultimately my system balanced itself and now I have some bubble algae, which I know where it came from, but alas, tank is so stable now.
 
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I always use herbivores of some type. Huge fan of tuxedo urchins, trochus snails, and tomini/kole tangs. I also dig cleaner/fire shrimp. That’s mostly all I use tho.
 
Coral reefer said:
I always use herbivores of some type. Huge fan of tuxedo urchins, trochus snails, and tomini/kole tangs. I also dig cleaner/fire shrimp. That’s mostly all I use tho.
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I think those are my top cleaners that last too. Since trochus live a few years but also breed and replace themselves. Love my Kole tang, but also any random small bristletooth tangs like tominis and two-spot tangs work too. I love emerald crabs and Seahares but they don’t last. Peppermint shrimp do steal food from corals but they can prevent aiptasia.
 
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