Cleanup Crew General Questions, I'd love any feedback

[Jarbour14]

Hows it going everyone, I just had some questions about potential additions to my 75 gallon reef tank. I have a lot of rock with arches and plenty of caves etc. I currently have the following in my tank in terms of inverts and cleaners

1 skunk cleaner shrimp
10 nassarius snails
10 turbo snails
5 cerith snails
5 scarlet reef hermits

I also have a lawnmower blenny and a yellow watchman goby

I have heard many different opinions on clean up crews but I would like to hear yours,
Should I & could I add another 1-2 skunk cleaners or do something else like a fire shrimp? How do these guys get along?
What other types of snails, hermits or other cleaners should I add?
Would a brittle star be a good choice?
What are the best types of urchins for a reef and what is the hardiest?


Thanks in advance!

 

[Tchung23]

I have a skunk, fire and coral banded shrimp. The only one I ever really see is the skunk. So if you want to enjoy your shrimp get another one of those. I used to have a pair of shrimps and they would often have baby shrimps that would get eaten by the fish.

All three of my shrimps seem to get along. None are dead yet

 

[CanuckReefer]

Hows it going everyone, I just had some questions about potential additions to my 75 gallon reef tank. I have a lot of rock with arches and plenty of caves etc. I currently have the following in my tank in terms of inverts and cleaners

1 skunk cleaner shrimp
10 nassarius snails
10 turbo snails
5 cerith snails
5 scarlet reef hermits

I also have a lawnmower blenny and a yellow watchman goby

I have heard many different opinions on clean up crews but I would like to hear yours,
Should I & could I add another 1-2 skunk cleaners or do something else like a fire shrimp? How do these guys get along?
What other types of snails, hermits or other cleaners should I add?
Would a brittle star be a good choice?
What are the best types of urchins for a reef and what is the hardiest?


Thanks in advance!

Brittle star is great to get under the rockwork and clean it up, love mine. I have both Pincushion and Short Spine black urchins for well over 5 years, just be aware they can mess with your rockwork if you have loose pieces etc. Also have a Sea Cucumber and a Strawberry Conch. These two do incredible work keeping my sandbed clean. As well several small red and blue leg hermit crabs, several species of snails, coral banded shrimp.
90 gallon system.

 

[BloopFish]

Skunks, fire, and coral banded shrimps will fight in confined spaces. Make sure you have enough hiding spaces. The only time they'll probably end up killing each other (which is a definite possibility for unmated individuals) would be between molts when they are vulnerable. You can definitely keep multiple species, its just a slight risk. Speaking from personal experience, when you leave multiple coral banded shrimps in a bucket that are unmated they will at least try to tear each other's arms off most of the time. Majority of Lysmata shrimps (such as fire shrimps and the various skunk cleaners) are simultaneous hermaphrodites. In practice, they may still fight (I've had a fire shrimp act antagonistically towards an unmated fire shrimp tankmate). Stenopus shrimps (coral banded shrimps) are much more aggressive than Lysmata shrimps on average, and are not hermaphrodites ( i.e. there is a male and female pair, with the female often being larger than the male). Studies have shown that pairing off two stranger male and female Stenopus hispidus shrimps tend to be more successful if they are both introduced to each other in a tank they are both familiar in. In addition, larger females tend to bully smaller males even more. However, you are very very unlikely to have success in keeping more than two, it may be difficult to sex them from just observing them in a fish store and even then you are not guaranteed for them to pair off. Lysmata amboinensis (skunk cleaner shrimp) on the other hand are often seen in pairs in the wild, but can be found in larger groups occasionally with camel shrimps (which are typically not reef safe).

Overall, I would recommend getting another skunk clear rather than a fire shrimp. In addition to a fight between non-mateable pairs being more likely, fire shrimps are very reclusive in nature, only getting slightly more brave as they get larger. In addition, a pair is more likely to succeed than a trio - a pair may end up bullying an individual. A 75 gallon may sound like a lot, but I've seen CBS get into tussles in even a 55 gallon if they were unmated - the bullied individual was not happy.

 

[deepseabc]

I've had multiple tanks with skin, fire and copper banded shrimp. They mostly just move around each other and don't bother each other. Never had a problem.with 1x killing off anothef

 

[LacViet]

If you have lots of rock work then it should be fine to keep multi species of shrimp together. In my 45gal, i have pair of coral banded shrimp, 4 skunk cleaner shrimp, 2 peppermint shrimps and 4 sexy shrimps. They are all fine for the last 5-6 months together. For pairing CBS, if you observe in lfs, if you see the shrimp with greenish thing inside the head and top body portion, that’s the female. If you know other CBS shrimp in the same store that has been there for a while and did not have that green egg , then more than likely that one is the male

the female with green eggs inside, and she is almost ready to release her larvae.

The pair: notice the male on top lack the green egg and color is white confine on the head region only