What kind of cleaners should I get??

[surfrgirl61187]

This weekend me and my husband are finally going to Seattle to stock up on some stuff for the tank.. We want to get a better clean up crew.. All we have is one turbo snail, and about 10 bl hermit crabs, and a few slugs... Any suggestions.. We have a 26gal tank... How many of what should we get?? We need something that will eat GHA and something that eats aiptasia.. we have one... well at least thats all we know of... Also during our switch from cc to sand we lost our clown goby.. So we are looking for a replacement fish.. What kind do you all suggest.. We have two corals, two clown fish, six line wrasse, royal gamma, and a damsel. So we would like something small and cute.. but we dont really want the clown goby.. it was always hiding.. so we want something more active.. so if anyone has any suggestions as for what we should get please let me know!! Thanks you guys!!

[Dr.Fragenstein]

Angela, as far as fish are concerned you have a pretty stocked tank as is, if it were my tank I'd have maybe 3 fish, actually when I had my 29gal setup I had a firefish and two scooter blennies. I know it doesn't seem like many fish but salt water contains less o2 than freshwater, NH4 is more toxic and the fish are more territorial. With that said I would HIGHLY suggest no more fish.
As far as clean up crews are concerned, many of the mentioned problems hair algae and aiptasia are spurred by elevated nutrients in the water. Water changes are your friend!! I am not saying w/c will solve everything BUT it will greatly discourage nuisence algae and invasive anemones.
Hair algae will be eaten by tangs(DON'T ADD TO YOUR TANK!) a few blennies(also DON'T ADD AT THIS POINT) some dwarf crabs(only get DWARF) and snails(if the HA is short enough) With that said, I would try to trim the HA to a short length and let a few snails and crabs polish it off. In your tank I would add maybe 5 red leg DWARF crabs and maybe 3-4 astraea, or trochus snails and let them help out.
For the aiptasia, butterflies will eat them(DON'T ADD TO TANK!) peppermint shrimp will eat them only if the aiptasia is small and you will need a small "pack" of the shrimp to be effective, maybe 3-5. Also, berghia nudibranchs will eat them but EVERYONE-PLEASE, LEAVE THESE CREATURES ON THE REEF! THEY ARE OBLIGATE AIPTASIA EATERS AND DIE WITHOUT THEM!!!!
Other than that Angela, keeping the tank clean on your own by proper maintainace will help curtail some of these issues.
Oh, I forgot to mention, Red Sea's Aiptasia X is VERY good at killing aiptasia effectively.

Good luck

[surfrgirl61187]

Originally Posted by Dr.Fragenstein

Angela, as far as fish are concerned you have a pretty stocked tank as is, if it were my tank I'd have maybe 3 fish, actually when I had my 29gal setup I had a firefish and two scooter blennies. I know it doesn't seem like many fish but salt water contains less o2 than freshwater, NH4 is more toxic and the fish are more territorial. With that said I would HIGHLY suggest no more fish.
As far as clean up crews are concerned, many of the mentioned problems hair algae and aiptasia are spurred by elevated nutrients in the water. Water changes are your friend!! I am not saying w/c will solve everything BUT it will greatly discourage nuisence algae and invasive anemones.
Hair algae will be eaten by tangs(DON'T ADD TO YOUR TANK!) a few blennies(also DON'T ADD AT THIS POINT) some dwarf crabs(only get DWARF) and snails(if the HA is short enough) With that said, I would try to trim the HA to a short length and let a few snails and crabs polish it off. In your tank I would add maybe 5 red leg DWARF crabs and maybe 3-4 astraea, or trochus snails and let them help out.
For the aiptasia, butterflies will eat them(DON'T ADD TO TANK!) peppermint shrimp will eat them only if the aiptasia is small and you will need a small "pack" of the shrimp to be effective, maybe 3-5. Also, berghia nudibranchs will eat them but EVERYONE-PLEASE, LEAVE THESE CREATURES ON THE REEF! THEY ARE OBLIGATE AIPTASIA EATERS AND DIE WITHOUT THEM!!!!
Other than that Angela, keeping the tank clean on your own by proper maintainace will help curtail some of these issues.
Oh, I forgot to mention, Red Sea's Aiptasia X is VERY good at killing aiptasia effectively.

Good luck

Thank you so much for this information!! We will not be adding any more fish!! I think we will try the Aiptasia X.. I have been looking around on the board and a lot of people recommend this stuff... they say it works really good.. As far as water changes we have definitely upped them.. We are doing them about every 4-5 days.. sometimes even every 3-4 days.. We truly can not wait tell I get to post a new thread saying "we bet the bugger!!" but in due time.. Patients is the key.. one more questions.. a while back we were told that a good rule of thumb for salt water tanks is one inch to two inch of fish per gallon.. Is this true?? Or is that one of those things that some people believe while others dont?? Thank you again!!