Food for Thought
Or
Potential Pitfalls of Using Utility Organisms (CUC) in Aquariums
Jay Hemdal
Aquarists often add “utility organisms” (animals not just for use in a purely decorative sense) to their aquariums to serve some beneficial function. These are often called CUC (Clean Up...
Hello everyone, Happy New Year. I have been noticing this this algae in my tank and not sure what it is and how to get rid of it? Is there anything I can add like CUC to reduce that?
Have attached images
I currently have 2 Florida ceriths and 1 Nassarius snail.
Any advice, help and...
Not even conches are safe from my striped hermit who now lives in a 3inch shell however he does eat a bit of algea but not enough.
So does anyone here have any clean up crew that can live longer than a month around my hermit? Theres only so much algea you can remove daily ☹
I have just seen that my nassarius snails are laying eggs in my tank and I was wondering what I need to do to get these to hatch.
I know that my fish will eat alot of them but they have laid some in an are my fish can't get too, the gap is too small for the fish to get into, so they should be...
Hi. So, a few weeks back I got a tuxedo urchin, from all of my research I found people saying they are reef safe and can coexist with other inverts. But since I have had the urchin in the tank I am seeming to be constantly rescuing my trochus snails that are upside down on the sand bed.
I...
hey all, just wondering what you would suggest for a small crew in my 10 gallon tank. Just rocks and mechanical. No sand. 2 baby/teen clownfish.
Thinking maybe just 2 trochus snails.. Any shrimp possibilities? Wouldn't mind another piece to look at but don't want to risk my babies being a nice...
So I have a pair of divinchi clownfish that I have owned for about 9 months and they have been great, they are the first fish in my first tank so getting rid of them isn't really an option.
I know clownfish can be aggressive and that is why I haven't added any more fish to the tank, but...
I have a biocube 32 LED with a current cuc of 7 astrea, 4 cerith, and 5-8 nassarius (I have no idea how many I have they breed all the time), and 3 hermits (1 dwarf red leg, 2 dwarf blue legs). I have a lot of red slime and dust algea still and he hair algea is slowly being eaten by the astreas...
This is a reef tank I got that was established well before I got it. I am new to reefing and revived all of the corals inside this tank back from death. But one thing I thought was off is the staggering amount of snails that are in there. Is there such a thing as too many? Should I rehome them...
Hey all,
A few months back I decided to jump back to the saltwater world after sitting the bench for about 11-12 years. I was able to repurpose an old Fluval 2.6 that I had used for a freshwater shrimp tank. The tank has cycled and is stock, minus some media in the back and a Kessil A80. I've...
So I've just been looking at my tank and noticed I have baby trochus snails on my glass, they're so small I nearly scraped them off thinking they where something else. I can tell they are trochus by the banded shell.
I was just wondering if there was anything I needed to/could do to help make...
Hi everyone I am in process of building my own clean up cre for my new 120 mixed, and curious if anyone has knowledge or has a cheat sheet of what each type of clean up crew invert is good at. Specifically the differences in hermits and how they can help for specific algae or what snails are...
please help i I am A complete novice and haven’t got a clue what to add to my tank.
I will add pictures I would like a few fish (clown fish)and four coal maybe more if I can fit in the tank please tell me if it’s just a good job I’ve done at making it look nice but not so good for the fish and...
I will post photos, updates, and progress as the tank evolves. Here is an overview of the tank as it is now.
*May 2020*
Our goal is to have a colorful, lively, symbiotic ecosystem. We have stayed towards more peaceful fish species and they all get along so far.
So we've had our tank since...
Just curious if people ever have CUC in the sumps of their AIO?
I have a JBJ45 I've noticed quite a bit of algae growth back there and a lot of it is really hard to get to to clean out.
The only concern I could think of was them making their way to where a return pump or the skimmer was, but I...
I haven’t really had a need for a CUC yet, but I’m getting worried as to what I should put in. Any suggestions for a CUC for a fluval seaevo 5 tank? Tank is below.
Hi all,
I recently upgraded to ai hydra 52 (4x) over my 150gal (6ft tank). Corals are loving the upgrade however I am over run now with algae in the sand bed, walls and rock. I was running for 11hrs but dropped it down to 8. Nutrients all within limits. I am newer to the hobby, a year and a...
Hi everyone, hope you’re all doing well. I have a question if been meaning to ask for a while, I’ve been wondering how you guys may offset this issue. How do you keep your reef clean if you have for example a puffer fish that loves eating your clean up crew? Is there a way you can maintain a...
Hey everyone,
So sadly i have to restart my tank since it has so many aiptasia everywhere, its covering every inch of the tank, even the glass and sand. It is a 210 gallon tank so its been a hard process. The fish have been moved to my friend’s tank. Although, im not sure what to do with all the...
I’m working on a list for what fish and clean up crew I want for my 40 gallon 3ft long tank. I want to have a diamond back goby in it to sift the sand and clean it up. If I put in some Nassarius snails in will they be competing with my goby for food or will the goby be alright.
For my 16 gallon all in one nano tank cube, what and how many clean up crew should i get? Whitch are best or most effective and where is a good recommendation to order online for a good price? Local store has baby hermits only
Hi Everyone,
I have seen a couple posts here. I got my water at my LFS store and it looks like the salinity of the water is running at about 1.03.. Should I try to get that number down? As well I do have the diatoms process.. Since this process has started should I be looking to get a cleaning...