livingart Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 A Clean-Up Crew for Your Aquarium The “clean-up crew” is a term used to describe the various small invertebrates that in nature clear up decomposing matter, algae growths and sift through the sand bed to help promote a healthy system. The most commonly used are hermit crabs, turbinaria snails, and glass shrimp though there are a variety of other snails, limpets, brittle stars, etc. One important factor to consider is the type of habitat you are trying to replicate and the compatibility of live stock in the tank. Leatherjackets, Puffers or wrasses can predate on hard and soft bodied invertebrates so you may be limited to animals with a hard shell; large snails and hermit crabs You also need to ensure there is enough food in the tank to sustain them, a newly set up tank may support a few shrimp or hermit crabs as these can be fed easily. Whereas grazing snails will possibly starve until the algae levels are up in the tank, unless you can supplement feed them, some clean-up crew members require a sandbed for survival and a new bed may not have enough nutrients required to support them. It's Important to check on invertebrates to ensure that they are still alive, a good rule is to keep track of any livestock you put in the tank as dead animals can quickly pollute the water in your tank. Sometimes the clean up crew can predate on each other, for example Hermit crabs are known to kill snails when they need a new home so adding spare empty shells will help solve the problem. Below is a small selection of critters that can help in the maintenance of your captive environment. Brown Creeper Zeacumantus subcarinatus Diet: Coraline and filamentous algae Brown Bubble Snail Bulla quoyii Diet: Ulva, Sea lettuce,diatomaceous film and filamentous algae White Bubble Snail Haminoea zelandiae, colour variable Diet: Ulva, Sea lettuce,diatomaceous film and filamentous green algae. Black Spotted Topshell Diloma melagraphia atheops Diet: Grazes on algal film and sediment deposits, also a detritus feeder Cats eye Snail Turbo smaragdus Diet: Foliaceous algae and macrophytes Cooks Turban Cookia sulcata Diet: Foliaceous algae and Ecklonia radiata Turret Shell Maoriculpus rosea Diet: Deposit feeder, filters sediment. Glass Shrimp Palaemon affinis Diet: Almost anything, good for cleaning up uneaten food. Brittle Starfish Brittle Starfish Diet: sediment deposits detritus feeder Sea cucumber Stichopus mollis Sea Cucumber are detritus feeders, they are very good at keeping a sand bed clean but be careful they have enough food. They grow to 18-20 cm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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