A reef without cleanup crew is a reef fighting algae 24/7. The right CUC stack maintains itself, keeps glass clean, and consumes detritus before it cycles to nitrate.
Trochus snails. Best all-around. Eat algae from rock + glass + sand. Won't tip over (self-righting). $4-8 each.
Cerith snails. Sand-bed cleaners + glass eaters. Good for nighttime grazing. $2-5 each.
Astrea snails. Cheap glass-cleaners. Tip over easily and starve - need vigilance. $1-3 each.
Nassarius snails. Sand bed scavengers - emerge from sand at feeding time. Detritus + leftover food consumers. $2-4 each.
Blue-leg hermit (Clibanarius tricolor). Small + reef-safe. $1-3 each.
Scarlet hermit (Paguristes cadenati). Reef-safe + known for not killing snails (mostly). $2-4 each.
Halloween / red-and-black hermit. Larger. Will eat snails for shells if shell selection runs out.
Avoid: Blue-knuckle hermit, electric blue hermit (kill snails), and any large hermit in a tank with prized snails.
Skunk cleaner shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis). Best cleaner shrimp. Sets up cleaning stations - fish queue up for parasite removal. $25-45 each. Pairs work well.
Peppermint shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni). Eats aiptasia. Get the right species (NOT camel shrimp - they eat coral).
Emerald crab (Mithraculus sculptus). Bubble algae eater. One per 30 gallons. Reef-safe but watch for fish-aggression at adult size.
For a 30-gallon reef: 10 trochus + 5 ceriths + 5 nassarius + 5 blue-leg hermits + 1 skunk cleaner shrimp. Adjust 50% up for a 50g, 100% up for a 75g.
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Browse cleanup crew →1 snail per 1-2 gallons of reef. Mix species - trochus (rock + glass), ceriths (sand surface), nassarius (sand bed). Don't over-stock - they starve when algae runs low.
Some species, especially when shells are scarce. Provide multiple empty shell sizes in the tank for hermits to upgrade into. Skip large hermits if you're collecting prized snails.
Week 2-3 of a new tank, after the cycle completes. Don't add CUC during the active cycle - they'll die from elevated ammonia.
Recommendations on this page cross-checked against the following authoritative references and our internal vendor + breeder database.