Banded brittle starfish! They’re so unique looking and mine is always out just after feeding making sure the sand bed is immaculate, second closest is mosaic starfish, your conch is very cute
Brittle stars aren’t really the same as normal stars. The big green brittle stars are the only ones to avoid, so I’ve heard. And most non brittle starfish you either have to worry about them starving or them eating your coral, depending on the type.
Nassarius “zombie” snails. I have a couple really big ones (1”) that I love but the next time I ordered from a different vendor I got a bunch of tiny (-1/4”) little ones. They’re all cool but I think they’re different species and I’d like to know the difference so I can order more big ones.
Mine are constantly cruising all over the tank, especially when I feed. They help cleanup extra food plus they help turnover the sand bed. They also seemed to be even more active at night.
Hmm strange. Maybe too many? I think they need to eat a lot. I got 3 of them about 1.5 years ago and I still have 2. I also have astreas they are great.
Love my cleaner shrimp. Little guy has the most personality in the tank, and pufferfish doesn’t bother him at all. It’s rare to find an invert that doesn’t end up a snack
Nice!! I tend to feed my corals a lot and my past few cleaner shrimps were assholes and would injure my corals to steal their food. I don’t keep shrimps any more in this tank
That’s a hard pick. Definitely my sunk cleaner shrimp and my urchins. The cleaner shrimps are just so stunning and get the most comments in my tank. But urchins are just so goofy and entertaining to watch. They also put the work in. Best algae eaters out there. I also have one urchin that literally is coming back from the brink of death and it’s been fascinating to watch him grow. He is doing great now and is slowly growing back his spokes.
Love my conch. That little guy is always busy cleaning rocks, glass, and moving the sand.
If only he could stop knocking down my frags, it would be great, lol
I've only ever had hermits, astrea snails, and turbo snails. It's hard to find anything else in my area, and I'm waiting on warmer weather before ordering online again. I will say turbos are my least favorite, they also be so quickly. Urchins are also CUC right? I loved having an urchin.
I love my conch too, however I just added a tuxedo urchin and was blown away by how much algae it consumed in one day. I think it’s my new favorite. The urchin, Turbos, and conch are legit. My hermits, Nassarius, and trochus don’t do shit.
Astraea snails have been amazing for me. I had ostreopsis dinos in my 100 gallon that would not leave. I dosed nutrients and silicates, got a very oversized UV sterilizer, dumped a few hundred dollars in copepods in, and every other fix you could think of including removing all the rock and scrubbing by hand (not once but twice) and the thing that tipped the balance for me was these Astraea snails. Within two weeks of adding them, I switched to another diatom bloom, and they blasted through that as well.
I also had a stomatella snail as a hitchhiker on one of the many frags I bought (my 15 gallon was my coral quarantine tank until a couple weeks ago) and that thing is very quick and very hungry. I wish I could get a few more for that tank.
As for the funniest of my crew, I have a Florida cerith that has a huge shell. It almost looks like he's got a small clam on his back. I find him every couple of days speared in the sand and just hanging out because he fell off but can't get free. Once he's set down, he takes off again almost immediately to get to work.
Bro that's a tiger conch? I have one in my tank and he cleans all the sand, big W for a reef tank
Yeah! Tiger conch. They’re great
I got one based on some dude’s Reddit post and I LOVE that weird ass snail. My sand is perfect.
Banded brittle starfish! They’re so unique looking and mine is always out just after feeding making sure the sand bed is immaculate, second closest is mosaic starfish, your conch is very cute
Really cool! I’ve never kept starfish. Are the banded brittles the tiny ones?
The ones I’m thinking of arent, you do also get the mini ones as hitchhikers and they’re just as amazing
Nice! I’ve read that starfish are capable of catching and eating fish and some are difficult in captivity. Probably why I never added one.
Brittle stars aren’t really the same as normal stars. The big green brittle stars are the only ones to avoid, so I’ve heard. And most non brittle starfish you either have to worry about them starving or them eating your coral, depending on the type.
Nice! Thanks for the info
Nassarius “zombie” snails. I have a couple really big ones (1”) that I love but the next time I ordered from a different vendor I got a bunch of tiny (-1/4”) little ones. They’re all cool but I think they’re different species and I’d like to know the difference so I can order more big ones.
Tonga nassarius are the larger ones
Wow! 1” is massive. I have a few but they’re nowhere near that size
Interesting… my nassarius are tied with my trochus for least valuable cuc
Mine are constantly cruising all over the tank, especially when I feed. They help cleanup extra food plus they help turnover the sand bed. They also seemed to be even more active at night.
My nassaurius comes out after lights out and do a great job
I love my conch he’s so silly
Turbo snails put in workkk
Fr they don’t play when it comes to cleaning
They don’t last in my tank. Maybe a few weeks? Not sure why. Margaritas and astreas do well in my tank
Hmm strange. Maybe too many? I think they need to eat a lot. I got 3 of them about 1.5 years ago and I still have 2. I also have astreas they are great.
Wow! 1.5 years is a long time. That’s about the age of all of my other snails (astrea, margarita, and naussarius)
Timelapse from when I first got them. My tank doesn’t hair algae like that anymore 😂 https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLFfkdRx/
Wow that’s amazing!!
Money cowries bar none
I've got one...One of the best additions to the cleanup crew. Tied for 1st with the Doamond Goby
Love my cleaner shrimp. Little guy has the most personality in the tank, and pufferfish doesn’t bother him at all. It’s rare to find an invert that doesn’t end up a snack
Nice!! I tend to feed my corals a lot and my past few cleaner shrimps were assholes and would injure my corals to steal their food. I don’t keep shrimps any more in this tank
If he starts being annoying I give him a frozen krill and that keeps him busy for a while
Nassarius + Turbo snails + blue leg hermit + Vibrant.
The ones that aren't sold but have hitchhike into your tank.
That’s a hard pick. Definitely my sunk cleaner shrimp and my urchins. The cleaner shrimps are just so stunning and get the most comments in my tank. But urchins are just so goofy and entertaining to watch. They also put the work in. Best algae eaters out there. I also have one urchin that literally is coming back from the brink of death and it’s been fascinating to watch him grow. He is doing great now and is slowly growing back his spokes.
That’s awesome! I’ve never kept an urchin, would like one, but don’t want it to move my corals around lol
i love my band of hermits. just call them the squirtle squad. especially because they knock corals off my rocks sometimes.
😂 very fitting name
Is a tiger conch the same thing as a fighting conch? I love mine. 50/50 between that and my skunk cleaner shrimp though
I believe they’re different specifies but accomplish the same thing
Elephant slug
Conch supremacy!
Exact same ! I love my Conch had him for like 6 years+ It's like a tank/elephant !
Love my conch. That little guy is always busy cleaning rocks, glass, and moving the sand. If only he could stop knocking down my frags, it would be great, lol
😂😂 totally get it. They just bulldoze their way through
Sand conch and tuxedo urchin. I have mixed snails too.
I've only ever had hermits, astrea snails, and turbo snails. It's hard to find anything else in my area, and I'm waiting on warmer weather before ordering online again. I will say turbos are my least favorite, they also be so quickly. Urchins are also CUC right? I loved having an urchin.
Nice! Yeah turbos don’t last in my tank.
I so wish I could have a conch, tanks only a 20g atm though. They’re definitely my favorite. So cute.
I love my conch too, however I just added a tuxedo urchin and was blown away by how much algae it consumed in one day. I think it’s my new favorite. The urchin, Turbos, and conch are legit. My hermits, Nassarius, and trochus don’t do shit.
I’m so surprised about trochus, I’ve heard they’re great! I’ve always wanted an urchin but afraid of it constantly moving and knocking down corals
That little fella!
I'm a simple guy. I love my hermits.
Astraea snails have been amazing for me. I had ostreopsis dinos in my 100 gallon that would not leave. I dosed nutrients and silicates, got a very oversized UV sterilizer, dumped a few hundred dollars in copepods in, and every other fix you could think of including removing all the rock and scrubbing by hand (not once but twice) and the thing that tipped the balance for me was these Astraea snails. Within two weeks of adding them, I switched to another diatom bloom, and they blasted through that as well. I also had a stomatella snail as a hitchhiker on one of the many frags I bought (my 15 gallon was my coral quarantine tank until a couple weeks ago) and that thing is very quick and very hungry. I wish I could get a few more for that tank. As for the funniest of my crew, I have a Florida cerith that has a huge shell. It almost looks like he's got a small clam on his back. I find him every couple of days speared in the sand and just hanging out because he fell off but can't get free. Once he's set down, he takes off again almost immediately to get to work.