[j_man]

I'm placing a cleanup package order on etropics. I want a sand sifting detrius destructing package. What besides cerith and nassarius should I get?. I don't want any crabs as my crabs keep eating my snails. Green Lettuce NudibranchTridachia crispata. look interesting. Bad Idea? What about queen or fighting conch? What about the red footed conch? I could use all the advice I can get as quick as possible, as I want to order today. Thankyou.

[Reefland]

I would stick with the snail that you mentioned and maybe one Strombus alatus. The conchs get pretty large so I would suggest just one. I would stay away from the Nudi since they will only eat green algae and once it is gone they will quickly starve.

[j_man]

Is there a way to supplement a green lettuce?

[j_man]

could you give me a quick list. based on a 30 gallon mini reef. you know ummm. 5 cerith, 3 conch blah blah blah.... I would appreciate it. And If I ever buy a house I would love your help setting up my 800 gallon.

[Reefland]

Do you have a deep fine sand bed?

[j_man]

4 1/2 inch deep fine to medium

[Reefland]

I would go with about 15 Nassarius, 15 Cerith and 1 Strombus alatus, although this will probably quickly outgrow the 30 gallon tank. Outside of those adding some Astaea snails is always nice. You could also add about 10 of these.

[j_man]

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

[j_man]

do peppermint shrimp do better in a groups? better to have 4 peppermints or 2?

[Reefland]

It really doesn't matter as far as I am aware. You can keep 1 just fine.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by j_man

What besides cerith and nassarius should I get?. I don't want any crabs as my crabs keep eating my snails.

The Nassarius snails are nice but they are carrion eaters (dead meat and meaty detritus); they don't eat algae. You will want several nice trochus grazers to eat algae. I have Ceriths, Trochus and Nassarius, plus a couple of huge Mexican turbo snails only because I used to have some nuisance red turf algae.

Green Lettuce NudibranchTridachia crispata.

I did try four Elysia crispata sea slugs once to see if they would eat Bryopsis as claimed by many hobbyists. I don't think I had any Bryopsis in my tank because they all died within a few months. They constantly went over the overflow and I had to retrieve them from the sump. They gradually shrank in size until they just faded away. Two of them died accidental deaths and the other two starved to death. These, of course, are NOT nudibranchs in spite of what all of the vendors call them. They are saccoglossan sea slugs. They are usually called "Lettuce Nudibranchs" by most online vendors but this is totally false and misleading. They are NOT nudibranchs. If they were, they wouldn't eat algae. (P.S. -- They were reclassified into the genus Elysia several years ago.)

As far as the conchs are concerned, the Queen Conch (Strombus gigas) gets much too large (8"-12") for anything other than a VERY large tank. The Fighting Conch (S. alatus) (3"-4") is a much better choice but even these require a large sand bed surface to thrive. I have had two of these but they both starved to death in about 18 months in my little 120-gal tank. Mine were both about 1.75" long when I got them and about 2.25" long when they died. I doubt if you can keep even a small one alive longer than six or eight months in a 30-gal tank. I will probably try another one in my tank (just one) if I can find a nice 1.5" (or smaller) one. I have a feeling that a single fighting conch probably requires a minimum of a 180-gal tank with lots of sand bed surface.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by j_man

do peppermint shrimp do better in a groups? better to have 4 peppermints or 2?

I think two of them would be nice in a 30-gal tank. I don't think I would get more than that for your size tank. However, I think Lysmata amboinensis would be a better choice than L. wurdemanni unless you are dealing with an Aiptasia problem. With Lysmata spp. shrimp, any two will make a pair because they are hermaphrodites. This is not true with all shrimp and most definitely not true with banded coral shrimp!

[j_man]

Thank you for all your help