One of our subscribers, named Frank, recently asked the following question:
Here it is, with my response below: “Warren,
What do you think of the clean up packages offered by some websites that include a number of snails, crabs etc… Are these typical of most systems?
Frank”
Thank you, Frank for your question. As you can imagine, there are many different types of combinations of clean up packages or reef janitor packages of worker inverts that you can order for your aquarium. Generally, I think they are a good idea, for the following reasons:
- particularly if you would like help with selecting which worker invertebrates are reef safe and to what ratios.
- you are likely to be exposed to some new species of animals you might not have otherwise seen or used before. This makes it all the more fun. I liken opening the fish boxes to Christmas morning or opening birthday presents … always a lot of fun to get new critters.
- ordering a “clean up package” saves you time and gives you convenience
- And one more benefit of “clean up packages” of worker invertebrates is that they increase the diversity in your aquarium, which is almost always a plus. Diversity generally stabilizes your system, and it makes it more fun too.
I guess the only down side, might be you don’t truly know what you are going to get until it arrives. And after you have ordered once from a supplier, whether it be an online store or your local fish store, you will get to know and trust them with future orders.
Hope this helps. If there is more you were looking for in asking your question, just post another comment and I can answer it further in more detail.
Last Saturday morning, I was in the car with my wife and son, and my phone rings. When I answered it, I realized it is the computer monitor for one of our customer’s aquariums, calling to let me know there was a water level alarm. I called it back and told it I was on my way (pressed the code to acknowledge the alarm).
So I began to think, “ah, yes, ‘alert condition 3′ is a float switch in the sump – telling me if the water level is too high. As I began to trouble-shoot the alarm in my mind, I quickly realized that this must mean that either the main pump has stopped working (mechanical failure) or the switch that is supposed to shut off the evaporation dosing pump has failed and isn’t turning the dosing pump off when it gets to the proper level.
So, I went to the client (got there within 45 minutes of the alarm), went into the filtration room – and what do you know I was right. The cause of the alarm was the float switch that is supposed to shut off the evaporation dosing pump had failed because of some debris getting in the way of its contact. I cleaned if off and voila – problem fixed – flood avoided.
By the way, this is a an 8-foot long 300-gallon jellyfish exhibit in a restaurant. Imagine what could have happened if this had gone undetected. The sump would have eventually overflowed, plus the salinity would have been dropped significantly, which jellyfish don’t like. It could have very easily ballooned into a tank wipe-out.
And … that didn’t happen.
Within 45 minutes of getting the alarm phone call from the computer, the problem was solved and a disaster from a simple and common mechanical failure was prevented. The key word here is prevented.
The reality is that mechanical failures are part of the game with keeping a saltwater aquarium. They happen. And Muphy’s Law says that they will typically happen at the worst time. In this case it happened on a weekend, when no one was there to catch it.
You might be thinking, “yeah that’s nice, but what does a computer monitoring system cost?”. Well, this one costs around $1,200, including all the other sensors. The other question to ask is “what would it have cost if the problem had gone un noticed”, and been allowed to create a flood (i.e. water damage) and kill all the jellyfish?
Well, the cost to replace all the jellyfish alone would be roughly $1,000; not to mention the time and hastle to replace them. But the biggie here is the cost of a flood in terms of water damage and cleanup time. I don’t even want to add those numbers up, but I know it would be in the thousands and possibly far more.
In fact, almost every customer of ours has one of these computer monitors on their aquarium’s filtration system. With them we can monitor water temperature (failed chiller or heater), air temperature, leaks/water on the floor, low water levels, high water levels, and last but not least – power failure.
In the event of any of these alarms, I get a phone call on my cell phone. And if I’m not there – it leaves a message and then moves on to the next of up to four phone numbers. And it will not stop calling until it has reached someone and the alarm has been acknowledged and the problem has been solved. This system is practically worth it’s weight in gold.
In fact, it typically pays for itself (in mishaps prevented) within a year.
The moral of the story here is that mechanical failures and leaks (etc.) happen with saltwater aquariums, so why not be prepared to prevent them from causing big problems and/or negative consequences. We integrate problem prevention and preparedness into every aspect of our business - from the designing aquarium systems, to installing them, to our maintenance routine.
If you want to learn more about how to setup your system or make changes to it so that you too are prepared – go to
and sign up to our free newsletter. You will also get our free e-course on the top 10 causes of disease and how to prevent them.
My hope is that you too learn to think this way, as it allows more time to enjoy your aquarium, and minimizes time spent reacting to emergencies and other nightmares. I like to think of it as failsafe insurance.
So here’s to dry floors and happy humming pumps that go and go, and problems prevented. As the boyscouts say – “be prepared”.
