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Margarita Snail (Margarites pupillus): Consume large amounts of algae, including nuisance hair varieties. Males are territorial to other Fighting Conch males but peaceful toward other tank residents. Grow to a maximum size of 1 ½”, are peaceful, and easy to care for.įighting Conch (Strombus spp.): Consumes detritus from your aquarium substrate, good for tanks struggling with red slime algae (Cyanobacteria) on the sand bed and clean and aerate the substrate. They will do better in larger, well-established reef systems with deep sand beds.
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They are sand burrowing snails (which helps maintain adequate oxygen levels in your substrate) that also spend some time on the rock and glass. Grow to a size of ½” and easy to care for.Ĭerith Snails (Cerithium spp.): Will consume large amounts of detritus, uneaten food, fish waste, and algae excellent for controlling brown filmy algae (diatom growth) on the sand bed. Though peaceful, if there is not sufficient food they may feed on other snails or polychaetes. They have a black shell striped in white to yellow bands. Also, consume sand-dwelling worms and aerates the substrate. Common names Astrea Conehead Snail, Astrea Star Snail, Spiny Star Astrea.īumble Bee Snail (Engina spp.): Clean away detritus, meaty foods, decomposing organisms off live rock, and deep sand beds. Grow to a maximum size of 1″, are peaceful toward other tank mates, and easy to care for. They are not fond of climbing, preferring the bottom and not too steep rock as they are unable to right themselves if they land on their back and will require assistance otherwise they will perish. They have a sharp cone or pyramidal shape circled by a large ridge. Also if you plan on keeping a heavily stocked tank, you may need to increase your cleaning crew numbers to keep pace with the detritus and algae growth a fish population produces.Ī good cleaning crew will contain several different species of snails to ensure that detritus and algae are consumed and out of your aquarium.Īstrea Snails (Astraea spp.): Will consume hair algae on live rock as well as consuming cyanobacteria and diatoms. Certain fish may devour crew members others may compete for algae and other food sources. You will also need to consider any competition, aggression, and predation between your cleaning crew members, each other, and any fish you plan to have. Start with adding half of the total cleaning crew you will need and then slowly over the course of a few months, build up your invertebrate population. After the tank cycles, a fair amount of die-off has occurred so after a good water change you will want to introduce a cleaning crew to start your tank off in the right direction before the die-off has much of a chance to degrade your water quality. When setting up a new tank, it must cycle before adding any cleanup crew most snails are sensitive to ammonia and high nitrate levels. The clean-up crew occupy different areas of the tank – rock, sand, and glass, and offer a natural solution to controlling these problems and pests. When not balanced, conditions favor the growth of algae, organic debris, detritus, and other nuisance pests. In a balanced aquarium, nutrients and added chemicals are removed through regular water changes or biologically processed. The ‘clean up crew’ refers to a group of snails, crabs, shrimp, and starfish that are utilized in saltwater tanks to control aggressive algae growth, excess detritus, and anaerobic sand bed compaction (they sift your sand bed). Top 25+ clean up crew (snails, crabs, shrimp…) for saltwater tanks Updated: AugBy: Lucas Top 25+ clean up crew (snails, crabs, shrimp…) for saltwater tanks