After the tank cycles I'll soon be ready to add some herbivores to start getting a handle on some of the algae that's already started growing. I've read a lot about different types of snails, crabs, shrimp, cucumbers, nudibranchs etc. I have some questions for all of you..I would appreciate your advice. There seems to be a LOT of differing opinions.
1. I was under the impression that nudibranchs will eventually just starve to death, yet many cleaner packages tend to offer them in small numbers. If it is doomed to a short life when it runs out of appropariate food, I'd rather avoid them. Do any of you keep nudibranchs, and if so what species do you recommend?
2. I want to avoid the bulldozer type snails that will topple live rock. Though my set up seems rather stable, I'd rather not have little reef engineers undermining my 6 hours of aquascaping! What species do you recommend? i'd like to keep them small, and have a mix of species to help with the multiple types of algae present in the tank.
3. Crabs....I notice two camps (even here on RF)..you either love em or hate em. Ultimately, this will be a reef tank, but we are a long ways off from introducing any coral. None the less, there will be corals in the tank in the future. Should I avoid them? I hear that many are great at eating algae, and some are better at bubble alage (of which I already see one bubble on my rock). If they are ok to put in, which have you had success with?
4. Shrimp: I know numbers of these guys are limited, but I was thinking of putting a pair of coral banded (or perhaps another) in together. Any favorite shrimp you guys have had good luck with?
5. Numbers: This is a 65 gallon tall tank with 70lbs LR. I get so much variation in how many snails/crabs etc to put in my head is spinning. The tank, as of today, is nearly done with the cycle and therefore there isn't a lot of algae to go around (though I expect that will change in the near future). How many individuals would you recommend?
6. Reputable vendors: I've been spending a LOT of time looking at the multiple vendors on line that sell inverts, and some that sell full blown janitor crews/reef cleaner packages. Two that seem interesting to me are Indopacific sea farms and Pacific East Aquaculture. What recommendations might you have?
Thanks in advance for all of your help!
1. I was under the impression that nudibranchs will eventually just starve to death, yet many cleaner packages tend to offer them in small numbers. If it is doomed to a short life when it runs out of appropariate food, I'd rather avoid them. Do any of you keep nudibranchs, and if so what species do you recommend?
2. I want to avoid the bulldozer type snails that will topple live rock. Though my set up seems rather stable, I'd rather not have little reef engineers undermining my 6 hours of aquascaping! What species do you recommend? i'd like to keep them small, and have a mix of species to help with the multiple types of algae present in the tank.
3. Crabs....I notice two camps (even here on RF)..you either love em or hate em. Ultimately, this will be a reef tank, but we are a long ways off from introducing any coral. None the less, there will be corals in the tank in the future. Should I avoid them? I hear that many are great at eating algae, and some are better at bubble alage (of which I already see one bubble on my rock). If they are ok to put in, which have you had success with?
4. Shrimp: I know numbers of these guys are limited, but I was thinking of putting a pair of coral banded (or perhaps another) in together. Any favorite shrimp you guys have had good luck with?
5. Numbers: This is a 65 gallon tall tank with 70lbs LR. I get so much variation in how many snails/crabs etc to put in my head is spinning. The tank, as of today, is nearly done with the cycle and therefore there isn't a lot of algae to go around (though I expect that will change in the near future). How many individuals would you recommend?
6. Reputable vendors: I've been spending a LOT of time looking at the multiple vendors on line that sell inverts, and some that sell full blown janitor crews/reef cleaner packages. Two that seem interesting to me are Indopacific sea farms and Pacific East Aquaculture. What recommendations might you have?
Thanks in advance for all of your help!