Saltwater clean-up crew

Each animal on this page cleans one surface: the trochus and turbo snails graze rock and glass, the ceriths and nassarius work the sand, the hermits pick at whatever the snails leave, the peppermint shrimp eats Aiptasia. A crew is a small mix of each rather than a crowd of one, and it goes in after the cycle, once there is algae to eat, because a crew added to a bare tank starves. Hermits need spare shells or they take one from a snail. And every invertebrate here is drip acclimated, because a salinity swing that a fish shrugs off kills a snail.

1. 01

   A mix, not a crowd

   Each species cleans one surface

2. 02

   After the cycle

   A crew in a bare tank starves

3. 03

   Spare shells

   Or the hermits take them from the snails

4. 04

   Drip acclimate

   Salinity swings kill invertebrates

The astraea snail grazes like a trochus at 1 inch (2.5 cm) but cannot right itself, so it needs turning over when it falls. The Mexican turbo snail is the heavy grazer at 2.4 inches (6 cm), marked easy, and it plows through hair algae and loose frags alike. The marine nerite snail cleans glass at 1 inch (2.5 cm). The bumble bee snail is a 0.8 inch (2 cm) scavenger that hunts worms and leftovers in the rock. The stomatella is the hitchhiker that arrives on live rock and grazes at night. The fighting conch plows the sand bed at 3.1 inches (8 cm) for 20 gallons (75 liters), marked easy.

The emerald crab eats bubble algae that nothing else touches, 2.4 inches (6 cm) for 11 gallons (40 liters), and it carries a coral caution because a hungry one picks at polyps. The Halloween hermit crab is 2 inches (5 cm) of orange and red with the same caution, big enough to bulldoze. The electric blue hermit crab is marked reef safe and peaceful at 2 inches (5 cm). The Mexican red-leg hermit crab is the small one at 1 inch (2.5 cm), marked beginner. The porcelain anemone crab filters plankton from the water and lives in an anemone, marked peaceful at 3 inches (7.5 cm). The Sally Lightfoot crab is a fast grazer at 3.1 inches (8 cm) that grows into an opportunist.

The peppermint shrimp is marked beginner at 2 inches (5 cm) for 11 gallons (40 liters), and it is the one crew member that eats Aiptasia anemones. The fire shrimp is a cleaner that hides more than the skunk, marked easy for 20 gallons (75 liters). The sexy shrimp stays at 1.2 inches (3 cm) in 5 gallons (20 liters) and lives among anemones and corals. The tiger pistol shrimp pairs with a watchman goby and digs a burrow. The coral banded shrimp is 2.4 inches (6 cm) for 30 gallons (115 liters) and carries a caution because it grabs small fish and other shrimp. The harlequin shrimp eats only starfish, so it cleans nothing and needs feeding.