Clean Up Crew’s are a Reef Tanks unsung hero without a doubt. Very few other critters or even gear can give you a better shot at a successful Reef Tank than a well thought out Clean Up Crew. They consume all of the uneaten food that your fish missed. They clean up all of the detritus that collects at the bottom in your sand bed and keep your glass and rocks algae free. They are the corner stone of a healthy tank!

What is a Clean Up Crew first off? Your Clean up crew will consist of an small Army of Snails, Hermit Crabs, Shrimp, Crabs, Starfish and various other exotic critters. Many are just as interesting to watch in your tank as your prized fish. They will always guarantee you the hustle and bustle of activity in your tank as they busily go about their janitorial duties 24/7.

There are two basic ways to get a Clean Up Crew. You can buy Packaged Deals or you can build your own Clean Up Crew Package.

Package Deals; These are almost always available at various on-line facilities and even many LFS will offer Packages as well. These are usually fairly balanced packages that cover the bases for the most part. These package deals can also save you a good “grip of Fun Dollars” too as compared to if you bought them separately. Additionally they will offer a wide variety of critters. These are usually based upon tank sizes. They are commonly offered in 55 gallon, 75 gallon, 120 gallon, and 180 gallon packages.

DIY Packages; These can sometimes be a bit more expensive to assemble and sometimes over whelm the hobbyist in decision making but are well worth the effort and can be specifically tailored to your Reef Tanks needs. This, I feel, is the best option for the Reefer in my humble opinion. It allows you to get exactly what you need, not waste money on things you don’t need and address specific needs unique to your tank. It does take a little brainpower and some research too, but an informed hobbyist is a successful hobbyist!

I will briefly discuss each critter that is commonly available. This is not an all and inclusive list and there will be many critters not discussed in the following paragraphs. These are quick down and dirty run downs on all of the more common critters. An Internet search will provide one with far more detailed information than I can provide here.

Turbo Snails
These are primarily found in Mexican waters. They get to about 2 inches in size. They are considered “reef safe”. They are excellent algae eaters and will feed off the algae growing on the glass, rocks, equipment and will also consume “Hair algae”, a bane of all reefers and common in less than well maintained reef tanks with the intense lighting that is associated with saltwater tanks. They are a fairly busy snail but will sometimes be found lacking on the job upon occasion. The biggest fault of these snails are their size. Large ones aren’t able to always reach all of the nooks and crannies that a reef tank will invariably have. Also due to their size they will bull doze over small frags causing an avalanche within the reef tank, potentially damaging delicate corals. It is for this reason I rely on very few of these snails. These should as a minimum is stocked at the rate of 1 per 5 gallons.

Golden Astrea
These jewels offer the biggest bang for the buck! They are usually one of the cheapest snails around, one of the busiest, reef safe, and eat algae by the ton. There small size, about and inch, make them invaluable for getting the algae in all those nooks and crannies in the tank. They will primarily spend their time on the glass and will spend a fair amount of time on the rock work eating away at any “film type” algae. Their biggest down side is they are cone shaped and if they fall off the rocks or glass may not be able to up right themselves and eventually die or be eaten by a hungry Crab or Hermit Crab. For this reason one should be a bit generous when buying these and plan on loosing a few to predation. These should be stocked at the rate of 1 per every 1 or 2 gallons of water

Banded Trochus
The ultimate snail without a doubt, which makes them quiet pricey in the snail world. Gram for gram these will consume more algae than any other snail out there. Of course they are reef safe as well. They get to about an inch to an inch and a quarter size wise. They will primarily spend their time on the glass and will spend a fair amount of time on the rock work eating away at any “film type” algae. Their biggest down side is they are cone shaped and if they fall off the rocks or glass may not be able to up right themselves and eventually die or be eaten by a hungry Crab or Hermit Crab. Again consider a few extra, as you will undoubtedly loose a couple too. The recommended stocking rate is 1 per every 5 gallons.

Cerith Snails
These are an excellent choice for the reefer that has a sand bottom as opposed to a crushed coral bottom or other course substrate. While they will clean a little algae of the rocks, glass and equipment, they really shine at keeping that sand bed detritus free and well stirred. They are without a doubt the best snails for Diatom Algae control. They are an elongated cone shaped snail and get to about an inch or so in length. Of course they too are reef safe. Stocking rates are 1 per every 2 or 3 gallons of water.

Nassarious Snails
There are two different types of these snails. The one not for use in the reef tank is rarely sold in the aquarium trade so avoiding it should be reasonably certain. These are the ultimate sand bed cleaners without a peer! Every tank with a moderate to fine sand bed should have a gang of these guys on the pay roll. They are fairly small rarely reaching only a ½ inch in size. Recommended stocking rates are 1 per every 2-3 gallons.

Bumble Bee Snails
These are small like the Nassarious snails but are black and yellow striped hence their name, making them a colorful addition to the reef tank. They are primarily a nocturnal snail spending a majority of there time on the rock work. There small size makes them most excellent for removing detritus from within the nooks and crannies of the rock work in your tank. Recommended stocking rates are 1 per every 3 to 5 gallons

Fighting Conch
Don’t confuse this with its close relative the Queen Conch, which gets much, much bigger!!!. Fighting conch’s will grow to about 4 inches and are best in tanks 55 gallons or larger that have plenty of sand bed to sift through. They will spend a majority of their time buried in the sand and unseen, but rest assured they are on the job! They consume little algae but are excellent for stirring a sand bed in situations where a sand sifting starfish is not desirable.

Cucumbers
An interesting Clean Up Crew member, Cucumbers come in a variety of color morphs but are usually drab in color. They make for excellent sand sifters and will keep your sand bed well stirred. They are related to Starfish and as such can be a bit delicate. There are some 1500 species of cucumbers world wide making it impossible to cover them all here. Some are drab slug looking critters and some such as the related Sea Apple from Australia are incredibly beautiful. Most are toxic by nature as a defense against predators, and this feature makes them less than outstanding in the home aquarium. Many when dieing or dead will release large and potent amounts of these toxins effectively “Nuking” your tank. As such these are not really recommended for a reef tank, as there are better suited alternatives readily available. With that being the case these should be considered “reef safe with caution”.

Nudibranchs
These resemble a snail without a shell. Most are vividly colored and shaped. Unfortunately most are very sensitive to water quality, have very specialized diets and like Cucumbers can and will release powerful toxins in the tank when injured or dead. Because of their specialized diets, I rarely recommend these for inclusion as a tank mate. The one case where I will recommend them is if you have an outbreak of Bryopsis Algae. The Lettuce Nudibranch is one of the few critters that will consume this algae.

Starfish
Come in a variety of colors and shapes. Some that are more suitable than others as clean up crew. Starfish are sensitive to changes in water chemistry. You water quality must be stable and you should slowly acclimate a new addition by slowly dripping water into its bag over an hour or two to get it acclimated. Ensure that your starfish is never exposed to air, as this is often fatal. Brittle Stars are an excellent choice and rarely preset an issue in the tank. Sand Sifting Starfish do just that sift the sand. However they will quickly decimate the sand bed fauna in all but the largest tanks. Serpent Stars are commonly sold in clean up crews but will give you mixed results in my experience especially the Green Serpent Star. They are notorious after getting some size on them about ambushing sleeping fish at night! Starfish for the most part will do a great job on cleaning up bits and pieces of food your fish or corals missed. One per every 50 gallons will be adequate.

Shrimp
Shrimp are very interesting creatures and are always on the move. They are usually fairly hardy and will do well in the reef aquarium. Most are a little bit pricey as well. The shrimp that has the most usefulness as a Clean Crew Member is the Peppermint Shrimp. This shrimp should not be confused with the smaller and similar looking Camel Shrimp. You can differentiate between the two, as the Camel Shrimp will have an arched or “humped” back. Peppermint Shrimp will scavenge the tank for detritus, algae and greedily swipe bits of missed fish food. One of the more unique things about these shrimp is their reputation for eating Apitasia, a pest Anemone that frequently crops its ugly head in the reef tank and will eventually wreck havoc with any corals that may be in the system. This of course is a hit or miss kinda deal, but most will solve this problem for you. As such I like to keep a couple in every tank I own. One word of caution though…not only will they consume Apitasia they will also ravenously dine on your Yellow Polyp corals if any are present in the reef tank, so keep this in mind.

Urchins
Incredibly interesting creatures, they come in a number of different varieties from the Pin Cushion Urchin, Short Spine Urchin, Tuxedo Urchin and most recognizable, the Long Spine Urchin. This is another item that I cannot in good conscience recommend to the average aquarist. They are fairly sensitive to changes in water chemistry and some can deliver an incredibly painful puncture wound that just has to be experienced to comprehend! I assure you, that you will only need to be poked once to be a believer!!! They will consume algae like no other critter too. But there in lies the problem with these guys. They will eat beneficial algae as well as they are equal opportunist. If you get one do be advised that all that pink, red and purple stuff growing on your rock work called coralline algae...will be consumed at a lot faster rate than it grows. For those with acrylic tanks…they can possibly leave behind fine scratches as they chew away at the algae on the tank panels. So be fore warned. Several Urchins, once they get larger can knock over corals and smaller rocks as well. Urchins are however “reef safe with caution” and make for an interesting addition. One per a tank is recommended if over 55 gallons, or more if the tank is 240 gallons plus

Horse Shoe Crabs
These normally get to big to recommend for all but the largest of tank…ie; 240 gallons plus! Nonetheless they are very industrious at stirring the sand scrounging for detritus to consume. They will if kept alive long enough reach sizes of 12 inches plus and in a reef tank be likely to cause damage to corals due to knocking things over. Although they are applicable to many tanks when small due to the large size they will eventually attain, cannot be recommended generally speaking.

Crabs
There are several choices here. Mithrax Crabs are known for there propensity to consume Bubble Algae, a type of nuisance algae that can quickly over when an reef tank once it gas a foot hold established. They aren’t a guaranteed solution to this problem but they usually do a good job at it. They will additionally spend time picking away at the rock work keeping things fairly tidy.

Sally Light Foot Crabs will aggressively scavenge the tank looking for bits and pieces of food items your fish missed. These are not as well known for their ability to consume algae
But a word of warning…Crabs are predators no if ands or buts about it. They will undoubtedly polish off a snail or two from time to time, it’s just a thing they do. Keeping them well fed when meals are few and far between will alleviate this problem considerably. As far as stocking rates if you chose to have them 2 or 3 per every 50 gallons should suffice.

Hermit Crabs
Another workhorse of the clean up crew. These guys more than earn their keep consuming algae, detritus and food your fish missed. No reef tank should be considered complete without a generous supply of these critters. There are two basic types that are commonly available and recommended for the reef aquarium.

Scarlet Reef Hermit Crab; these are brilliant red in color and can get to about an inch in size. These have an excellent reputation for “playing well” with others and the most popular among reefers. Because of their brilliant color and their larger size they are often more expensive and in shorter supply at your LFS. I would recommend 1 for every 2 gallons of tank water.

Dwarf Blue Leg Hermits. These are generally about ½ the size of Scarlet Reef Hermits. They aren’t quiet as brilliantly colored as the Scarlet Reef Hermits but none the less look attractive just the same. This Hermit without doubt is my Hermit Crab of choice. Due to their much cheaper price and smaller size I find that these do a somewhat better job of scavenging in the reef tank and less likely in my humble opinion to be a predation problem in the aquarium as compared to others. I prefer to stock these Hermits at 1 per a gallon of tank water.

There are a few other small and useful varieties of Hermit crabs available but these aren’t always available. To minimize predation problems occasionally supplement their diet with a piece of shrimp or a Silver Side. Keeping a few small shells of various sized will keep them from killing snails to get their shells.

Other valuable assets in the battle against nuisance algae that should not be over looked are your fish! Many of the Tangs, Dwarf Angels and other herbivore type fish can pull double duty. Some of my personal favorites are the Yellow Tang, Kole’s Tang, Scopa’s Tang, Pigmy Angel, Potters Angel, Flame Angel, Coral Beauty Angel and the Jeweled Rock Skipper Blenny (AKA; Lawnmower Blenny).

As an example, for 55 gallon tank I have provided the following list of critters and the recommended number that could be found in a Clean Up Crew. This particular recommendation has been made on other forums and is also known as the “Imeaxpat2 Clean Up Crew”:

25-30 x Golden Astrea
10 x Banded Trochus
20 x Bumble Bee Snails
40-50 x Nassarious/Cerith Snails in combination
30 x Dwarf Blue Leg Hermits
20 x Scarlet Reef Hermits
2-4 x Peppermint Shrimp
1 x Brittle Star
1 x Fighting Conch (optional)

I have the “Imaexpat2 Clean Up Crew” and it has worked very well for me. Your mileage of course may vary. Remember this is just a general recommendation and can be changed to better fit your needs and or desires. The numbers of snails and Hermits may seem a bit high but when you factor in the fact that a few will perish you will still have plenty to last you a long while. These numbers of Clean Up Crew Members need not be purchased at once but can be purchased several at a time over a few consecutive weeks until the appropriate numbers are achieved.

Good luck and happy Reefing!

hey i have a question i am looking at one of these nano cube aquariums they are 13 gallons and are for rred and small fish what kind of clean up crew would you recamend for this mall of a tank?