10 Best Saltwater Fish Tank Cleaners!

[@ReefDork]

What's your favourite clean up crew?

[@Remy_gee]

Conch

[@kieran_92]

Off topic but do you know where to get the the Red Sea reefer g2 plus 625 XXL.but I want to get it delivered and installed ?

[@SaltWaterSteve1]

I like having a good range of CUC but crabs my favourite or all inverts

[@odyssey350kc]

Algae blenny, my foxface follows him around and eats the scraps the blenny gets off the rocks.

[@danielleonard7816]

Best thing for sand is a cross hatch goby ... he'll just cover your corals in sand though but it will be clean sand 😂

[@danielmathabe9248]

I love how many of these sea animals help each other and have symbiotic relationships

[@bencobb3433]

Great video Alex, one off my personal favourites are the black sea cucumbers absolute detritus removal machines

[@paulwalsh8028]

Agree until they wander into an MP40

[@smokeandkippers]

Agreed - Blue tuxedo urchins are super algae munchers! Have to have at least two in all my tanks. And conch for the sand bed. Foxface for hair and bubble algae and nassarius for detritus. I’d never keep any crabs of any variety. Lost too many corals and snails in the past!

[@pathilliard2878]

I tried foxface twice. Both, at about 5 inches, started tearing into my LPS. It started with the bright green radioactive candycanes both times and then all fleshy LPS was on the menu. Once they start, they keep eating them too. I had better luck with a pencil streaked rabbitfish though. Maybe it was just bad luck, but keep an eye on them.

[@smokeandkippers]

@@pathilliard2878 that’s crazy. I’ve kept FF for 30 years and they’ve never touched my corals.

[@antonyh37]

I've had a tuxedo urchin for years and he doesn't touch hair algae. He only eats coraline and film algae. The only creatures I've noticed eating hair algae in my tank are tiger conch and Astrea snails. The astrea snails seem to be the most vulnerable to hermit crabs.

[@Tyrko]

I've got a couple of cleaner shrimp, they're absolutely hilarious. My yellow tang follows them around requesting car wash. They'll only oblige in one specific spot though. Funny how that works.

[@ChristianBiggins]

Bimbling around your tank like Boris Johnson. OMFG proper out loud laughing... I look at all my hermits differently now. Gold.

[@alexguitar841]

Not specifically for algae but my current tank MVP is my green filefish. Slowly but surely taking care of my aptasia problem before it got out of hand.

[@paulwalsh8028]

Diamond watchman gobi is a must as long as no corals on the sand bed, keeps my 6x 3 x 2 immaculate and real character

[@shelfridges]

Acreichthys tomentosus - Aiptasia eating filefish is an absolute must have. Very peaceful, not threatened by bigger fish, and take readily to frozen food whilst devouring pest glass nems. I've never had one touch my other soft corals either.

[@kawaiizombiegal]

i work at a marine aquarium story, we have had customers that had them eat their corals, acans and the like

[@coreychase1830]

They do great eating aptasia but they also love zoas and LPS corals so caution needs to be exercised

[@pathilliard2878]

Mine went after zoas when the Aiptasia were gone. There’s also a little lookalike that gets a little bigger and will really eat coral, but ignore Aiptasia.

[@pieternoeth6210]

Great video, thanks. I added copepods; they do a great job, serving as food for so many.

[@seanmccleland4648]

Thanks for the Video @Reef Dork, i always enjoy them. Another Machine of a cleaner is the Quoyi Parrot fish, they grow to be huge, but even when they small they obliterate Algae, scrapping it off with their beaks, on rock and glass.... brilliant and very beautiful fish. Have a good one Mate!!

[@davidleach4689]

That’s a spot on video I had a emerald crab that ate my hammer coral, I have a large orange spot rabbitfish,scopas tang,sailfin,blue eye kole tang, they eradicate hair algae but not so much bubble algae you also want to make sure your tangs keep well fed if not the will get more aggressive

[@corbinsiner2453]

I really like any of the sifting gobies! I have a Tiger Wardi that goes around sifting all day.

[@multisturge]

My favourite are urchins, a spikey ball with teeth that moves. Its what made me love the hobby. Its all these inverts that don't look alive but are (corals, urchins, starfish etc). I would like an emerald crab but every shop I've been to they're no bigger than my thumb nail. I have seen bigger before.

[@rajgill7576]

I've had my little pico going for about a month and was getting some bad algae blooms or the ugly stage as some call it. I added hermit crabs and copepods and saw results almost overnight! Rarely does anything good happen quickly in reef tanks

[@ilikeweirdfish7106]

Late to this video but you missed out one of my favorites which is brittle stars. I have fish that eat snails, crabs, and shrimp so I rely on urchins for algae control and brittle stars to eat any leftover food. They do a great job and are far tougher then the shrimp and hermits who do a similar job.

[@IrishInsomniac76]

I would include Mini Brittle Stars on that list which are wonderful at cleaning detritus in the rock crevasses

[@dandanthefishmanclothier3690]

Loving your videos to the point of wanting to go back to a reef again (not SPS this time lol) I'd love to see a video on bringing back and old neglected tank back to a reef.

[@ReefDork]

Like this.. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpCWeGqNdsyritk

[@paddydoherty1653]

Thanks for another great video. Rabbit fish next for my tank. My current hero is a black sea cucumber 🥒

[@Fishgeek1979]

I have a yellow fox face on order can’t wait 😊

[@jhaych]

They're great!

[@briankavanagh7191]

@@jhaych I had one that was a little "Ba'stard" would attack me and had to isolate it every time I did anything in the tank, in the end got rid.

[@shproperties9974]

Your corals are stunning 😍

[@cyanblue5888]

Conches, Urchins and Trochus snails, no doubt. They're so good

[@SaltWaterSteve1]

Wish there where CUC for predator systems. I’m forever replacing what is eaten by my triggers and wrasse 😂

[@FutureBoostedMedia]

Any recommendations on cheap lights you can use for growing coral? Trying to setup a budget drag system. 4ft long by 18inches wide

[@brenninsreef]

Personally I’m a sea cucumber fan.

[@meonly1226]

Hi can you please tell what can I plant in my saltwater tank...I have a 55 gallon with , 3 different breed of clows, mandarin and a dottyback..also cleanup crew, a few crab left and like 3 or 4 big snails nasar snails...ty😊.another question, how and what can I feed my snails??

[@ReefDork]

You don't feed snails, they should survive on micro flora in the tank. People don't tend to keep plants in saltwater tanks, but you can get macro algae like dragon's breath if that's your bag.

[@DGGuaglianone]

Love kgtropicals content

[@Wombel]

Solid list but tangs need huge tanks. IF you have a dealer next to you and you can rent one for a few days the nthats a special etch case. But normally they grow gigantic and need 500+ L. Emerald crabs are really great but for some reason are almost impossible to get currently at least in europe. But all in all a very solid list. I might have added blennies especially for smaller tanks. You can generally only hold one and i have bad luck with mine because he hides in a cave for days sometimes. But i know of some who really just picks the ricks 24/7. After all fish are animals too and some are weird. Also really read up on the hermit crabs and ask your dealer about it. There hundreds of different kinds and like he said in the videos some of them are really bullies and kill of your snails in no time. But some really only focus on algae and can be a giant help. Sadly these are generally on the more expensive side.

[@callsignvengeance]

I have a 55 gallon saltwater tank that just had a major algae outbreak and wanted a quick working fish like a foxface rabbitfish to get rid of it, how long will a foxface be fine in the tank?

[@ReefDork]

A small one will be fine for a couple of years

[@callsignvengeance]

@@ReefDork thanks!

[@RobBoryckiGolf]

Great job as always Alex

[@born2beashooterjosh397]

Urchins are amazing besides the fact they bulldoze e wrything so u better have a sound rock structure but yeah they seem to devour more algae than jus about anything else only thing that is zebrasomas possibly and sometimes turbo snails ive had one turno snail keeping an entire 30gal clean for a yr now he devours everything n there was massive amounts of algae in there before him

[@jackoliver5129]

Dose the stock light on the fluvel evo grow and keep choral or will it just melt?

[@ReefDork]

I didn't really use it so can't tell you properly, but plenty of people online have grown coral with it

[@TXREEF]

I love your list, except the emerald crab. I caught mine shamelessly devouring a healthy micromussa, he now lives in the refugium...

[@EIY_Kumar]

Oh and I had an idea for the live stream with Ryan why not make a list of favorite Lps corals by characteristics, like favorite Lps with wavey motion like hammer, gonis, Favorite encrusting LPs, favorite Meat coral, Favorite brain coral etc. Favorite on the sand or bottom

[@markwalter8549]

What's the orange fish at about 4 minutes and 40 seconds in?

[@mtsimons]

ive found that coral beauty angels are great at removing algae on a more all around area

[@sunnygoold9449]

hmm - my approach is urchins, a few different types of snails (but not many) and maybe a tang. I'd love an abalone but they ones I have bought never made it. Besides that I think we are the cleanup crews - just do some maintenance once a week and some reef snow, bubble scrubbing and that sort of thing. Definitely don't like crabs. I think you should have made the statement that diversity is key - you sort of touched on this but building a cleanup crew I think is more about diversity than volume I think. Others will disagree though ;)

[@ReefDork]

Yeah, completely - the best tank cleaner is one of everything on this list!

[@sunnygoold9449]

@@ReefDork Thinking about this I would do a complete utilitarian stocking list. Like you could say - Here are the common issues in a reeftank and the stocking list to help solve that: - Standard algae Start with an urchin, add 2 each of trochus and turbo snails. Get a bristletooth or zebrasoma tang if you have the room. Dirty sand, cyano and diatoms - a couple of nassarius snails and a strombus will help. - Aptasia - aptasia eating filefish from the start should keep them at bay - Bumblebees, Copepods, a small sand sleeping wrasse like a leopard (to eat pest bugs and nudis). Finally - You....

[@jackoliver5129]

On you nano tank which bay is your heater?

[@ReefDork]

Middle one, ATO dispenses into the next chamber (final chamber)

[@YaseenKhan-bk1mx]

i want a saltwater tank soo bad

[@rashedzomah]

same

[@FoolOfATuque]

Buy a used one. Find a local reefing club. There’s usually people dumping equipment on there

[@AdamUS123-j7q]

Do it

[@enzomontini758]

Start small and you won’t regret it

[@AdamUS123-j7q]

@@enzomontini758 Yes starts small, sometimes big tanks can be annoying

[@patiacat1]

Urchin definitely number one.

[@pathilliard2878]

You missed the cleaner gobies like the neon and shark-nosed gobies. They clean vermited snails from rock. They clean ich spots from fish. They clean every new fish and frag immediately. They defend coral from parasites. Mine defended its perch on a big Trachy from my coral beauties occasional nip. And at their tiny size, they clean more waste than they produce and have a zero to negative bioload. I have used them multiple times to clear out both ich and vermited with a 100% success rate. I’ve never lost a fish to ich with one of them in the tank in 15 years. That includes one badly infected Potter’s angel and a couple total outbreaks in the tank. They are literally the best utility fish (or invert) that I have ever owned and I will always have one or more in any tank I own. Mine were all wild caught. I don’t know how solid the cleaner instinct is with the hatchery raised. Try one on vermited. They will literally slaughter hundreds in two days. They rip them right out of their shells, eating until they’re full, then tossing them into the flow for the other fish. A guy at the pet store told me to try one for my vermited issue. And I have never been more impressed with a recommended fix than this one. I was stunned. Awesome fish.

[@sealitiadarling5092]

Any suggestions for a clean up crew for a predator tank?

[@ReefDork]

Never looked into that I'm afraid...

[@sdavey10]

Great vid, cheers.

[@ricodias673]

Nailed it!

[@paulwalsh8028]

Urchins as you say are number one tuxedo Great but I also have a pink one that literally takes a layer off the rock, but something mullers my snails- everyone talks about aiptasia - I’ve been at this 15 years and by far the worst are mojanos, I can’t get rid of the buggers and have a bi colour Angel, peppermints and the odd file fish will keep them at bay, chucked out mountains of coral once they get amongst them….make a vid on that or one of your podcasts, joes juice just knocks them back, I even have a wand from back in the day that I swear should be illegal…….

[@smokeandkippers]

Have you tried kalkwasser paste on the mojanos?

[@tubefeetmackay3693]

well my urchin is great i named him after my husband but he seems to like my coralline more than hair algae so like my other half hes not doing what i want.

[@fazterror7]

I love hermit crabs, but I don't seem to be able to keep them alive 😩

[@A.R.C.77]

I got rid of my cuc all I have now is stomatella snails, there like mini abalone

[@EIY_Kumar]

Lion Fishes are the true cleaners of the tank, it will keep the tank clean by eating other fishes

[@tmarkuk1]

Found a spaghetti worm the other day for my unexpected hitchhiker cleanup, weird looking thing!

[@stevewebb2201]

There's nothing making a dent on my brown hair algae, I've got various snails, a conch and a Tuxedo Urchin, even tried sea lettuce slug (Elysia crispata) but still losing to the algae. It's a 90 litre nano so limited on fish choice.

[@Remy_gee]

How do you keep multiple rabbitfish in a tank? I put a magnificent foxface in a tank with a yellow foxface and the new fish got bitten and kept being attacked by the yellow foxface…

[@ReefDork]

I believe foxes will kill each other, but different types such as a varigated and a one spot will be OK. But do check that - i've never done it.

[@dardvader6]

I just got rid of my urchin today never again he was a gaint bulldozer and ate all my coreline algea 😂

[@PersianChristianity]

Hermit crabs are so good

[@RideTheropy]

Lmao 😂 "like Boris Johnson" 😂😂😂

[@IDK-MIKE7]

Perfect!

[@islandreef5292]

I want an urchin but the fact that they can move my corals is very unappealing

[@ReefDork]

Yeah, it's a pain in the arse sometimes! Mine in the video was covered in zoas 😂

[@CodeNfX]

My emerald crabs and foxface does not touch the bubble algaes, they had one job :(

[@jaegernedde5591]

Mine got ride of my bubble algae outbreak in under 2 weeks; it depends on the fish!

[@rashedzomah]

Robert IDK: THEME SONG!!!

[@dereks3207]

after an emerald crab had an acan lord buffet in my tank, i swore them off forever.

[@ranjbapir4483]

thanks for greate vds .. i haved 12 yers freshwater . .ben 1 yers in salt water i deserv to kill to waesting my time in fresh water ... thanks agen from iraq😂

[@BlazedReefer]

Hermit crabs can be total dickheads 😂 love it

[@Pahed.]

😍

[@cameronbasford8991]

You mustn’t have looked very hard to find another video showcasing saltwater clean up crew 🤷🏻‍♂️.

[@Mcappo]

Well people should tell everyone that the urchins also eat coraline algae before recommending them.

[@ReefDork]

A small price to pay!

[@Mcappo]

@@ReefDorkmy rock and anything that was covered in coraline literally turned white and I thought it all died before someone said the urchin ate it all!

[@suthatharmalingam6062]

the gem tang is over 1000 dollars

[@safiul1930]

Crabs kills snails and archin

[@ethan3632]

mollys are kind of insane

[@masteroctopusesanimations153]

I would be sacred to take care of a rabbit fish because they have a venomous spin

[@englishfishkeeper2007]

Pistol shrimps are loudest invertebrate. Loudest animal in ocean is sperms whale >:(

[@ricodias673]

Whales are vertebrates

[@kawaiizombiegal]

nassarius snails are carnivores mostly, not algae cleaners and for rabbitfish i actually don't see them as completely reef safe i have seen them and heard quite a lot of stories of them eating corals,

[@power21100]

You missed the ever elusive whale shark tang!

[@AlicksSmith]

Whale tangs are the best tangs. You can check them out if you google "Acanthurus Linneatus".