Cleanup Crew... How big is big enough?

[thomasR]

I have a 45 gal reef tank with 1 black clown, 3 green chromis, and 1 spinger's dottyback. I have a large arrow crab, a banded shrimp, 3 orange astria snails, and 2 large mexican turbo snails. Do i need more of a cleanup crew? One of my friends said i could double the amount of snails i have and have less cyanobacteria and cleaner rock. Also i was thinking about getting a sally lightfoot crab but hear they can be aggressive, could i pull one off or will i end up with a dead sally/banded shrimp

thanks

[metalhead]

Add a few Cerith snails and see if that helps with the cyano... Other than that you could definitley add hermits and other snails if you like, their population will regulate itself over time depending on the abundance of food supply (algae). Not sure about the banded shrimp sitiuation but you may have trouble keeping certain types of crabs or snails with him around, not sure on this though as I've never kept one myself.

[thomasR]

Ok cool, if anyone knows more about the banded/sally part let me know.

[Steve McKay]

I had two Sally Lightfoot crabs in my 125 years ago,they look cool but they are not. They will become aggressive and you will lose animals.IMO no crab is reef safe,the one exception might be Scarlet hermit crabs.Also since I'm sticking my neck out,there are very few shrimp that are completely reef safe IMO.As a matter of fact I'm going to start a thread on that subject.

[thomasR]

thanks il save myself the trouble

[mike007]

I had a mated pair of Coral Banded shrimp and i had the same problem, they became aggressive and began eating the cleanup crew and basically everything, i even lost a fish during the night. they are good only if you plan to keep an aggressive tank, but definetly not reef safe. i wouldn't recommend them for those reasons, just my 2 cents. ;; hope this helps!

[thomasR]

well i already have one and he is rather big but so is the arrow crab i have. they fight on and off. But the crab only defends itself and doesnt attack, the shrimp seems to only attack the crab. The chromis and clown seem to stay out of its way and the dottyback holds its own so for now il just wait to see what happens

[Steve McKay]

Here's some info on Arrow Crabs:

It is a hardy, long-lived invertebrate, that can be housed in the reef aquarium. This crab has been known to attack crustaceans such as Banded Coral Shrimp, and may even attack small slow moving fish. All crabs are opportunistic feeders and if insufficient food is present they may pick at mushrooms or polyps searching for food. Breeding Arrow Crabs in the aquarium is not generally successful. Larvae are free-swimming and hatch in about two weeks. It will accept almost all meaty, flake and tablet foods.