10 Best Saltwater Fish Tank Cleaners!

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If you're looking for the best saltwater aquarium clean up crew, this video is for you! I list out the 10 best saltwater fish tank cleaners to keep your tank free from algae and detritus and to help reduce maintenance.
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0:00 10 Best Saltwater Fish Tank Cleaners
0:18 Urchins
0:56 Snails
1:29 Hermit crabs
2:06 Cleaner shrimp
2:34 Rabbitfish
3:19 Emerald crabs
3:49 Pistol shrimp
4:30 Zebrasoma tangs
5:07 Bristletooth tangs
5:43 Hitchhikers

Пікірлер: 111

  • @ReefDork
    @ReefDork Жыл бұрын

    What's your favourite clean up crew?

  • @waveboardstar

    @waveboardstar

    Жыл бұрын

    Conch

  • @kieran_92

    @kieran_92

    Жыл бұрын

    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

    @SaltWaterSteve1

    Жыл бұрын

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

  • @odyssey350kc

    @odyssey350kc

    Жыл бұрын

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

  • @danielleonard7816

    @danielleonard7816

    Жыл бұрын

    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
    @danielmathabe92488 ай бұрын

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

  • @RobBoryckiGolf
    @RobBoryckiGolf Жыл бұрын

    Great job as always Alex

  • @YaseenKhan-bk1mx
    @YaseenKhan-bk1mx Жыл бұрын

    i want a saltwater tank soo bad

  • @user-go2cu8dz8c

    @user-go2cu8dz8c

    Жыл бұрын

    same

  • @FoolOfATuque

    @FoolOfATuque

    Жыл бұрын

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

  • @fishlegend2536

    @fishlegend2536

    Жыл бұрын

    Do it

  • @enzomontini758

    @enzomontini758

    Жыл бұрын

    Start small and you won’t regret it

  • @fishlegend2536

    @fishlegend2536

    Жыл бұрын

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

  • @bencobb3433
    @bencobb3433 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @paulwalsh8028

    @paulwalsh8028

    Жыл бұрын

    Agree until they wander into an MP40

  • @antonyh37
    @antonyh37 Жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @shproperties9974
    @shproperties99747 ай бұрын

    Your corals are stunning 😍

  • @seanmccleland4648
    @seanmccleland4648 Жыл бұрын

    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!!

  • @paulwalsh8028
    @paulwalsh8028 Жыл бұрын

    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

  • @corbinsiner2453
    @corbinsiner2453 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @sdavey10
    @sdavey10 Жыл бұрын

    Great vid, cheers.

  • @alexguitar841
    @alexguitar841 Жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @Tyrko
    @Tyrko Жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @brenninsreef
    @brenninsreef Жыл бұрын

    Personally I’m a sea cucumber fan.

  • @ricodias673
    @ricodias673 Жыл бұрын

    Nailed it!

  • @ChristianBiggins
    @ChristianBiggins10 ай бұрын

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

  • @paddydoherty1653
    @paddydoherty1653 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @DGGuaglianone
    @DGGuaglianone Жыл бұрын

    Love kgtropicals content

  • @IrishInsomniac76
    @IrishInsomniac76 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @dandanthefishmanclothier3690
    @dandanthefishmanclothier3690 Жыл бұрын

    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

    @ReefDork

    Жыл бұрын

    Like this.. kzread.info/dash/bejne/apNnqZmQccrehNo.html

  • @davidleach4689
    @davidleach4689 Жыл бұрын

    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

  • @rajgill7576
    @rajgill75764 ай бұрын

    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

  • @shelfridges
    @shelfridges Жыл бұрын

    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

    @kawaiizombiegal

    Жыл бұрын

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

  • @coreychase1830

    @coreychase1830

    Жыл бұрын

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

  • @pathilliard2878

    @pathilliard2878

    17 күн бұрын

    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.

  • @IDK-MIKE7
    @IDK-MIKE7 Жыл бұрын

    Perfect!

  • @smokeandkippers
    @smokeandkippers Жыл бұрын

    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

    @pathilliard2878

    17 күн бұрын

    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

    @smokeandkippers

    17 күн бұрын

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

  • @ilikeweirdfish7106
    @ilikeweirdfish7106 Жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @FutureBoosted
    @FutureBoosted Жыл бұрын

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

  • @cyanblue5888
    @cyanblue58883 ай бұрын

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

  • @Fishgeek1979
    @Fishgeek1979 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @jhaych

    @jhaych

    Жыл бұрын

    They're great!

  • @briankavanagh7191

    @briankavanagh7191

    Жыл бұрын

    @@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.

  • @SaltWaterSteve1
    @SaltWaterSteve1 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @pathilliard2878
    @pathilliard287817 күн бұрын

    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.

  • @mtsimons
    @mtsimons7 ай бұрын

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

  • @born2beashooterjosh397
    @born2beashooterjosh397 Жыл бұрын

    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

  • @Wombel
    @Wombel Жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @EIY_Kumar
    @EIY_Kumar Жыл бұрын

    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

  • @TXREEF
    @TXREEF6 ай бұрын

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

  • @markwalter8549
    @markwalter8549 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @PersianChristianity
    @PersianChristianity Жыл бұрын

    Hermit crabs are so good

  • @EIY_Kumar
    @EIY_Kumar Жыл бұрын

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

  • @A.R.C.77
    @A.R.C.77 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @tubefeetmackay3693
    @tubefeetmackay3693 Жыл бұрын

    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
    @fazterror7 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @jackoliver5129
    @jackoliver5129 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @ReefDork

    @ReefDork

    Жыл бұрын

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

  • @meonly1226
    @meonly1226 Жыл бұрын

    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

    @ReefDork

    Жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @dardvader6
    @dardvader6 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @sealitiadarling5092
    @sealitiadarling5092 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @ReefDork

    @ReefDork

    Жыл бұрын

    Never looked into that I'm afraid...

  • @josephmauceri3971
    @josephmauceri3971 Жыл бұрын

    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

    @ReefDork

    Жыл бұрын

    A small one will be fine for a couple of years

  • @josephmauceri3971

    @josephmauceri3971

    Жыл бұрын

    @@ReefDork thanks!

  • @tmarkuk1
    @tmarkuk1 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @paulwalsh8028
    @paulwalsh8028 Жыл бұрын

    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

    @smokeandkippers

    Жыл бұрын

    Have you tried kalkwasser paste on the mojanos?

  • @sunnygoold9449
    @sunnygoold9449 Жыл бұрын

    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

    @ReefDork

    Жыл бұрын

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

  • @sunnygoold9449

    @sunnygoold9449

    Жыл бұрын

    @@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....

  • @stevewebb2201
    @stevewebb2201 Жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @jackoliver5129
    @jackoliver5129 Жыл бұрын

    On you nano tank which bay is your heater?

  • @ReefDork

    @ReefDork

    Жыл бұрын

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

  • @BlueFlagGarage
    @BlueFlagGarage Жыл бұрын

    Lmao 😂 "like Boris Johnson" 😂😂😂

  • @waveboardstar
    @waveboardstar Жыл бұрын

    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

    @ReefDork

    Жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @ranjbapir4483
    @ranjbapir4483 Жыл бұрын

    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😂

  • @dereks3207
    @dereks3207 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @islandreef5292
    @islandreef5292 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @ReefDork

    @ReefDork

    Жыл бұрын

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

  • @CodeNfX
    @CodeNfX Жыл бұрын

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

  • @jaegernedde5591

    @jaegernedde5591

    Жыл бұрын

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

  • @user-go2cu8dz8c

    @user-go2cu8dz8c

    Жыл бұрын

    Robert IDK: THEME SONG!!!

  • @BlazedReefer
    @BlazedReefer Жыл бұрын

    Hermit crabs can be total dickheads 😂 love it

  • @ethan3632
    @ethan3632 Жыл бұрын

    mollys are kind of insane

  • @safiul1930
    @safiul19304 ай бұрын

    Crabs kills snails and archin

  • @cameronbasford8991
    @cameronbasford8991 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @Mcappo
    @Mcappo4 ай бұрын

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

  • @ReefDork

    @ReefDork

    4 ай бұрын

    A small price to pay!

  • @Mcappo

    @Mcappo

    4 ай бұрын

    @@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!

  • @englishfishkeeper2007
    @englishfishkeeper2007 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @ricodias673

    @ricodias673

    Жыл бұрын

    Whales are vertebrates

  • @kawaiizombiegal
    @kawaiizombiegal Жыл бұрын

    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
    @power21100 Жыл бұрын

    You missed the ever elusive whale shark tang!

  • @AlicksSmith

    @AlicksSmith

    Жыл бұрын

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

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