Maintaining a reef aquarium allows an aquarist to create a mini ecosystem in their tank. The fish
and corals are of course the highlights, but reef critters can perform useful clean-up jobs and are
pretty fun to watch. Here are our top 10 most sold reef critters!
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#10. Cleaner Shrimpare both entertaining to observe and useful in a reef aquarium. They can be seen cleaning parasites off of fish, which is important in a reef tank where medicating is difficult. |
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#9. Emerald Crabsare great when that pesky hair algae takes over. They do a great job picking the algae out from between corals that can be difficult to get out manually. |
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#8. Sexy Shrimpare just fun to watch. They will host an anemone and ‘dance’ by wiggling their tails. It’s especially cool if there’s a whole group in one anemone. |
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#7. Banded Coral Shrimpare another purely ornamental reef critter. They usually hide a lot but their long claws make them a very interesting tank mate and they also come in gold and blue. |
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#6. Trochus Snailsare a very useful part of any clean-up crew. They do a great job cleaning algae off the glass, keeping the aquarium looking tidier for longer. |
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#5. Scarlet Leg Hermit– another great clean-up crew member. They’re great for picking algae and detritus that collects on live rock. |
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#4. Nassarius Snailsare a helpful part of your clean-up crew that you’ll probably never see. They burrow under the sand and keep it moving to prevent algae and cyanobacteria from forming on the sand bed. |
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#3. Sand Sifting Starfishare an alternative to the nassarius snails. They also burrow under the sand and move it around, plus they’ll feed on detritus in the sand bed. |
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#2. Tuxedo Urchinsare another option for cleaning up hair algae. They’re a cool alternative to emerald crabs and are fun to watch crawl across the reef. |
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#1. Tigertail Sea Cucumbersare excellent detritivores, cleaning up left-over food in tough to reach places. They are also very unique looking and make an entertaining addition to any reef tank. |