Cleaner packs from liveaquaria?

[Gdbyrd]

Has anyone ordered one? I'm looking into maybe ordering a fish from them so I thought maybe I could go ahead and get my CUC setup too..not sure if it's a good idea or not as some of the inhabitants require more mature tanks. My tank has been running for about 5 weeks now.

Also, when considering my CUC, do I use less sand sifters because I have a small footprint with a tall tank?

Should I get a couple fish and have them established before investing in a cleaner crew?

 

[daugherty]

the clean up crews are good but you want to make shure you have enough for them to eat so it is a good idea to add them slowly. if you get them all at once you will more than likely need to feed them until their is enough food in the tank for them to eat.

 

[bjohanson1234]

also, you might want to look into the build your own option from them. They offer free shipping on orders of 60 or more. Which is good considering that it is normally 35

Brian

 

[Wes888]

Yea, I used their Build your own option as well, since I didn't want to get any crabs. :D

 

[Bifferwine]

If your tank has finished cycling, then you can go ahead and add a cleaner crew. For a 47 gallon tank, this is what I would get: about a dozen nassarius snails, a dozen astraea snails, one Mexican turbo snail, a pair of conchs, one brittle or serpent star, a pair of emerald crabs and 3 peppermint shrimp. That should be good for now, and if you need to add more, you can do so later.

 

[Wes888]

I don't have a star at the moment. Do I need one?

 

[Bifferwine]

I think stars are some of the best cleaners out there for cleaning up detritus and uneaten food. Brittle and serpent stars are the best, just stay away from the giant green ones, as they have been known to eat fish. Plus, they are super cool to watch and to hand feed.

 

[Wes888]

What do you hand feed them? Just normal frozen food?

This look fancy. Serpent star is serpent star, right? Doesn't matter what color they are?

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+528+2126&pcatid=2126

 

[Bifferwine]

Yeah, they eat the same stuff that the fish eat. The one that you linked to is a good one. Serpents come in all sorts of colors and patterns.

 

[yote]

When it comes to the CUC,I like a mix of several types of snails and a couple of crabs.A couple of shrimp are good to have too.
But I gotta agree with James.Its better to just add a few at a time.
You want just enough to keep up with the cleaning,without out having them go hungry.