Clean up crew
a beginner's guide
A well thought out clean up crew is a critical part to maintaining a successful reef aquarium. Your clean up crew will keep your aquarium clean by performing crucial ecological roles, including removing detritus, uneaten food, algae, parasites and other harmful, unwanted invertebrates.
Clean up crew mostly consist of snails, crabs, shrimp, urchins, starfish, sea cucumbers, and cowries. Some fish, generally referred to as “utilitarian fish” can also help with clean up crew duties but are generally not grouped in as part of the clean up crew. The reality is, any animal that will feed upon algae or scavenge the tank for detritus or uneaten matter can be a beneficial member of the clean up crew.
For many hobbyists, clean up crew are among the first animals added to a tank after it completes the nitrogen cycle.
The following is a description of each recommended clean up crew member and what they offer your reef tank.
Snails
Snails are the most common addition to a clean up crew. Snails are natural scavengers that will eat algae, detritus and leftover food inside your aquarium. Snails also have the unique ability to clean algae off corals without damaging them, arguably one of the best functions they can serve in a reef tank.
There are a wide variety of snails to choose from when stocking your tank, the idea is to get a variety that will target different areas of your aquarium.
Astraea Snails:
Herbivore, eats film algae, diatoms and cyanobacteria. It may also pick at hair algae and other green algae.
Be Aware: You will likely have to flip over any Astraea snails that fall off the rock or glass – as they do not have the capability to flip themselves over.
Cerith Snails:
Herbivore, eats diatoms, green hair and film algae off rocks and substrate. These snails will eat off the sand but won’t bury themselves below the sand as the Nassarius snail will. These snails tend to be nocturnal in nature and will hide in the sand bed during the day and are generally not recommended for bare bottom tanks.
Nassarius Snails:
Carnivore, will eat uneaten food, decaying organics, and fish waste. The Nassarius snail is a must have if you have a sand bed as they are one of the best sand stirring detritus eaters for an aquarium. It will bury in the sand to sleep. When it senses food in the aquarium, it will quickly unbury itself and feed upon the food that makes its way to the bottom of the aquarium.
Trochus Snails:
Herbivore, eats mainly green hair and film algae. These snails are excellent for cleaning the rocks and glass of your reef aquarium. Unlike Astraea snails, Trochus snails possess the unique ability to right themselves.
Strombus Snails:
Omnivore, excellent at aerating your substrate and keeping it clean of algae and detritus.
Shrimp
Shrimp are another sought after addition to the clean up crew. Some shrimp will get into nooks and crevices to eat detritus and leftover food that other inverts cannot reach, whilst others will eat unwanted worms and parasites off fish.
Redline Cleaner Shrimp:
Carnivore, feeds on ectoparasites and dead tissue on fish. They will literally clean your fish, some fish love it so much, they stop by for regular cleaning. They will scavenge about the rocks looking for detritus and uneaten food.
Blood Shrimp:
Carnivore, are among the most striking inverts available. They will set up cleaning stations to clean ectoparasites and dead tissue from fish while also scavenging the tank for leftover food.
Peppermint Shrimp:
Carnivore, Peppermint shrimp are favoured because of their appetite for Aiptasia anemones but are also effective scavengers and occasionally cleaners. They will scavenge about the rocks looking for detritus, uneaten food, and decomposing organic material.
Coral Banded Shrimp:
Carnivore, scavenges about looking for leftover food, accepting frozen, flakes, or pellets. They are active, showy shrimp that tend to be a peaceful member of an aquarium. They can be aggressive toward other shrimp in the same aquarium, so just a single specimen is best, unless collected from the wild as a pair.
Harlequin Shrimp:
Carnivore, A very cool looking shrimp with a very specialised diet of starfish. These are not for every tank and should only be kept if you can sustain their diet. Most hobbyists don’t think of these shrimp as clean up crew but they can make quick work of an asterina star infestation.
Assorted Animals
Sand Sifting Starfish:
Carnivore, feeds upon sand dwelling crustaceans like tube worms, copepods and amphipods. While a great invertebrate to keep the sand bed thoroughly sifted, it comes at a price. They will decimate your sand bed off all living creatures. It will then proceed to stay hidden in the sand, starve to death, and decay. Our personal recommendation is to not add these starfish into your aquarium. While a few people do have success long term with them, that is an exception and should be taken into consideration when thinking about purchasing one.
Brittle Starfish:
Carnivore, feeds upon meaty bits of food and detritus. They tend to hide in the rock work and all that is visible is their arms sticking out of the rocks trying to grasp at pieces of food as they float by. Some will venture out of the rock work and hunt down pieces of food in the tank after you have fed your tank. Be cautious of the Green Brittle Stars (Serpent Star) as they are known to go after fish of all sizes, but the other types of brittle stars are generally safe with all different sized fish and invertebrates.
Urchins:
Herbivore, that can be very useful in a reef tank. The Tuxedo Urchin, although uncommon in Australia, grazes upon all types of algae including coralline and will occasionally pick up loose pieces of rubble, sand, and even coral frags and “carry” them around the tank. The Longspine Urchin will also graze upon all types of algae and unfortunately will sometimes graze upon corals as well, specifically SPS corals like Acropora and Montipora. Proceed with caution in a reef tank. Short Spine and Collector Urchins are opportunistic feeders, and feed voraciously on algae. If not enough algae is present for any species of Urchin, simply supplement with nori.
Cucumbers:
Herbivore, cucumbers will sift through the sand bed and will digest the algae and detritus off of it. Some can get quite large and some are toxic if they die within the aquarium. Cucumbers can be sensitive, so we would not recommend them to beginner hobbyists.
Sea Hare:
Herbivore, one of the best for removing hair algae. Will quickly remove hair algae from an aquarium, therefore once removed, make sure to supplement with nori. Sea Hares can secrete a purple ink when feeling threatened so make sure to house with appropriate tank mates. They tend to be very sensitive to changes in water conditions, so you will want to make sure you keep your parameters stable for them.
Tropical Abalone:
Herbivore, great for film algae, hair algae and diatoms. Abalone are nocturnal meaning they will hide and rest throughout the day and be active at night. Will quickly remove algae from an aquarium, therefore once removed, make sure to supplement with nori.
