Too Much Of A Cuc?

[pimp4cheddar]

I've been looking around for a CUC for some time...

LiveAquria has some nice crews...but I think I'm going with the crew from BlueZoo...The include a vast array of snails, crabs and even a slug...


It seems to include almost everything needed for a great price, but is it too much? I mean...can you get TOO CLEAN?

Take a look at what they're including:

CREW


I'm getting the crew for a 25 gallon tank...as I have a 30 gallon tank.


Does anyone have any info on CUC's or what should be included? Does anyone have any info for CUC's at all...such as where to get a killer deal on one...



Thanks,

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Looks ok to me, tend to go for less CUC then most people but I would say this looks about right for a 30g.

Two things I would look into first are Tonga Fighting Conch and Lettuce Slug. I really know nothing about either of these but I vaguely remeber reading that not all conch's are a good idea (I think the main problem may be that get pretty big and tend to bulldoze their way through corals) so I would check them out first.

You can definitely overstock on CUC which results in some of them starving off once the food source is used up.

 

[Donya]

Hmm...I can't get the page to show up? But, I saw xxBarneyxx's references to a tonga fighting conch and lettuce slug so I'll comment on those.

I've seen a number of different species sold under the name "tonga fighting conch"...best to get a species ID to know max size. The main issue with any conch vs. other snails is that they need flat space to hop around and deep enough substrate that they can dig down into. Contrary to what I've read about conches elsewhere, they do like food other than what they can sand-sift. Hermits can out-compete conches for food since they can get over to leftover munchies faster, so conches can be prone to running out of food in smaller tanks. That's less of an issue if you can weight down some nori or something for them to snack on so they don't have to rely solely on scavenging. Having kept multiple conch species I'm not really sure they should be considered part of a CUC...more of a specimen to add if you're actually interested in one. Conches also don't belong in an immature tank. If this CUC is part of a new tank setup, a conch doesn't belong in the CUC.

Lettuce slugs I've also kept. Don't add one of those until the tank is mature. No way should any sea slugs be in a CUC if that's where it was listed (keeping in mind of course that I couldn't actually view the page - I'm just going off what was said here). The photosynthetic lettuce slugs require a lot of maco to feed on and can be finicky about exactly which species they nibble on. You need a stable tank and lots of healthily growing macro before a tank is ready for one of those. Also be sure of the species - not all things sold as "lettuce slugs" eat the same things.

I mean...can you get TOO CLEAN?

As xxBarneyxx said, it can get completely clean and have too many animals without food. If that happens, you'll have a big CUC dieoff as animals starve and/or attack each other in desperation to get food.

 

[ben1987]

If you end up with too many in your CUC then you will just have to feed extra so there is no trouble fighting for food. Then you have to be careful with the water quality. Make sure there are a lot or spare shells if your having hermit crabs.

I reckon your probably best building your CUC up over time so you can gauge it easier. Plus you wont be at full stock for a while fish wise. Although if your ordering the CUC you dont want to be paying posytage on a few small orders.