Cleaner Crew Gone.

I purchased TBS's cleaner crew when I bought my live rock/sand.

real nice stuff tbs has

After about 1 1/2 years, the cukes are gone, the shrimp are gone, the
snails have reduced to about 4, but I see the blue legged hermits
continue on.

My fish and corals are doing fine, and water parameters are excellent
(so far.)

Could it be that a gorilla crab that I haven't been able to catch, be
the culprit?

uuh yea does that really need to be said

Also, I hear a noise in the tank every now and then, which resembles a
marble hitting the glass. My search for a mantis shrimp has been
exhausting--even at night with a flashlight.

you will need to catch it also

The brittle star also is doing fine, and has grown.

there generally safe from crabs & most shrimp ime

I have no other explanation other than they were devoured by something.
Any clues? I want to order another cleaner crew, but want to eliminate
what killed them to begin with.

the best i have found is to get one of those disposeable tupperware kinda things thats
shallow put a weight on top with a string, and at night draw out critters into the jar
with all lights off and a cheapo laser pointer then release string dont wait too long its
generally not secure enough to hold anything long term reach in pull out the thingie and
put offending critter in a safe place for ID



TIA,

Richard


--
Richard Reynolds

Richard Periut wrote in message ...
I purchased TBS's cleaner crew when I bought my live rock/sand.

After about 1 1/2 years, the cukes are gone, the shrimp are gone, the
snails have reduced to about 4, but I see the blue legged hermits
continue on.

My fish and corals are doing fine, and water parameters are excellent
(so far.)

Could it be that a gorilla crab that I haven't been able to catch, be
the culprit?

Also, I hear a noise in the tank every now and then, which resembles a
marble hitting the glass. My search for a mantis shrimp has been
exhausting--even at night with a flashlight.

The brittle star also is doing fine, and has grown.

I have no other explanation other than they were devoured by something.

Any clues? I want to order another cleaner crew, but want to eliminate
what killed them to begin with.

TIA,

Richard

Richard, I also obtained my LR/Live sand, and cleaning crew from TBS.
After two years the only creatures left from TBS are the brittle
stars, and cukes. I do not think any of my current
shrimp/snails/hermits are original. I did not think the fact that
snails and hermits do not last that long unusual since I have
periodically added additional snails and hermits which also appear to
die off gradually over a period of 6 months to a year or so. I had
three mantis shrimp with my LR. All three fortunately died over a
period of a year after my unsuccessful attempts to catch them. I do
recall seeing more snail/hermit crab shell fragments when the mantis
were alive however.

Timothy Tom wrote:
Richard Periut wrote in message ...

I purchased TBS's cleaner crew when I bought my live rock/sand.

After about 1 1/2 years, the cukes are gone, the shrimp are gone, the
snails have reduced to about 4, but I see the blue legged hermits
continue on.

My fish and corals are doing fine, and water parameters are excellent
(so far.)

Could it be that a gorilla crab that I haven't been able to catch, be
the culprit?

Also, I hear a noise in the tank every now and then, which resembles a
marble hitting the glass. My search for a mantis shrimp has been
exhausting--even at night with a flashlight.

The brittle star also is doing fine, and has grown.

I have no other explanation other than they were devoured by something.

Any clues? I want to order another cleaner crew, but want to eliminate
what killed them to begin with.

TIA,

Richard


Richard, I also obtained my LR/Live sand, and cleaning crew from TBS.
After two years the only creatures left from TBS are the brittle
stars, and cukes. I do not think any of my current
shrimp/snails/hermits are original. I did not think the fact that
snails and hermits do not last that long unusual since I have
periodically added additional snails and hermits which also appear to
die off gradually over a period of 6 months to a year or so. I had
three mantis shrimp with my LR. All three fortunately died over a
period of a year after my unsuccessful attempts to catch them. I do
recall seeing more snail/hermit crab shell fragments when the mantis
were alive however.

Hi all and thanks for the response.

I'm going to just order another batch, and we'll see.

Rich

--
"..A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava
beans and a nice chianti..."

Hannibal "The Cannibal"

Silence Of The Lambs 1991

Clean up crews don't last long for a variety of reasons (predators,
starvation,...). If the tank is doing fine without these guys, why waste
money on more of them?
"Richard Periut" wrote in message
...
Timothy Tom wrote:
Richard Periut wrote in message
...

I purchased TBS's cleaner crew when I bought my live rock/sand.

After about 1 1/2 years, the cukes are gone, the shrimp are gone, the
snails have reduced to about 4, but I see the blue legged hermits
continue on.

My fish and corals are doing fine, and water parameters are excellent
(so far.)

Could it be that a gorilla crab that I haven't been able to catch, be
the culprit?

Also, I hear a noise in the tank every now and then, which resembles a
marble hitting the glass. My search for a mantis shrimp has been
exhausting--even at night with a flashlight.

The brittle star also is doing fine, and has grown.

I have no other explanation other than they were devoured by something.

Any clues? I want to order another cleaner crew, but want to eliminate
what killed them to begin with.

TIA,

Richard


Richard, I also obtained my LR/Live sand, and cleaning crew from TBS.
After two years the only creatures left from TBS are the brittle
stars, and cukes. I do not think any of my current
shrimp/snails/hermits are original. I did not think the fact that
snails and hermits do not last that long unusual since I have
periodically added additional snails and hermits which also appear to
die off gradually over a period of 6 months to a year or so. I had
three mantis shrimp with my LR. All three fortunately died over a
period of a year after my unsuccessful attempts to catch them. I do
recall seeing more snail/hermit crab shell fragments when the mantis
were alive however.

Hi all and thanks for the response.

I'm going to just order another batch, and we'll see.

Rich

--
"..A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava
beans and a nice chianti..."

Hannibal "The Cannibal"

Silence Of The Lambs 1991

BigBru wrote:
Clean up crews don't last long for a variety of reasons (predators,
starvation,...). If the tank is doing fine without these guys, why waste
money on more of them?
"Richard Periut" wrote in message
...

Timothy Tom wrote:

Richard Periut wrote in message

...

I purchased TBS's cleaner crew when I bought my live rock/sand.

After about 1 1/2 years, the cukes are gone, the shrimp are gone, the
snails have reduced to about 4, but I see the blue legged hermits
continue on.

My fish and corals are doing fine, and water parameters are excellent
(so far.)

Could it be that a gorilla crab that I haven't been able to catch, be
the culprit?

Also, I hear a noise in the tank every now and then, which resembles a
marble hitting the glass. My search for a mantis shrimp has been
exhausting--even at night with a flashlight.

The brittle star also is doing fine, and has grown.

I have no other explanation other than they were devoured by something.

Any clues? I want to order another cleaner crew, but want to eliminate
what killed them to begin with.

TIA,

Richard


Richard, I also obtained my LR/Live sand, and cleaning crew from TBS.
After two years the only creatures left from TBS are the brittle
stars, and cukes. I do not think any of my current
shrimp/snails/hermits are original. I did not think the fact that
snails and hermits do not last that long unusual since I have
periodically added additional snails and hermits which also appear to
die off gradually over a period of 6 months to a year or so. I had
three mantis shrimp with my LR. All three fortunately died over a
period of a year after my unsuccessful attempts to catch them. I do
recall seeing more snail/hermit crab shell fragments when the mantis
were alive however.

Hi all and thanks for the response.

I'm going to just order another batch, and we'll see.

Rich

--
"..A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava
beans and a nice chianti..."

Hannibal "The Cannibal"

Silence Of The Lambs 1991





That makes sense. But why are they recommended by many?

Would like to hear more opinions on the matter.

Thanks,

Richard

--
"..A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava
beans and a nice chianti..."

Hannibal "The Cannibal"

Silence Of The Lambs 1991

All right, I have to ask, what is TBS? I even looked it up in the FAQ
on the off chance it was there, so, now I just feel dumb 8-)

thePoet