Saltwater invertebrates offer a beautiful appearance to your aquarium. An aquarium with unique shrimp, urchins, and crabs will blow anyone away who visits your home. However, each invertebrate serve different purposes in a home aquarium. Some species eat algae better than others, remove bacteria, and filter the sand!
These invertebrates act as a clean up crew for your aquarium. Therefore, it is reasonable to ask, which saltwater invertebrate is the best? Unfortunately, that question doesn’t have a universal answer that can be used in every situation. Different invertebrates are better at different tasks.
In this article, we will be going over the best saltwater invertebrates for a home aquarium! We will provide their top benefits, and why you should ultimately add the livestock to your aquarium.
Cleaner Shrimp
When you think of a Cleaner Shrimp, you immediately think of an aquarium nurse. This shrimp will have a home on the live rock, and they will take care of fish that pass by them. The Cleaner Shrimp is one of the best invertebrates with the ability to remove bacteria and parasites from a saltwater fish. These shrimp also carry unique color that is hard to miss when looking at a home aquarium. They can even be found in the movie Finding Nemo!! These invertebrates also help clean up waste and unwanted bacteria in the aquarium. If you are planning on adding an invert to your aquarium, don’t miss out on this gem of a shrimp!
Turbo Snails
Turbo Snails are the bread and butter of keeping a saltwater aquarium healthy. These snails are considered a human trash can when removing unwanted waste from the bottom and sides of the aquarium. The Turbo Snail is the most popular snail for a reef tank with community fish. When there are tiny holes in your aquarium live rock, these inverts will go out of their way to make sure it is clean! With these snails running roughly around 2-3 dollar each, these are much cheaper options compared to hiring a maid! With their cleaning ability, these snails are considered one of the best saltwater invertebrates!
Emerald Crabs
Face value, Emerald Crabs may look very aggressive and scary to a beginner aquarium hobbyist! However, these crabs function at such a high rate, and they do wonders for your saltwater aquarium. These crabs are known for their strong work ethic, and their ability to get rid of bubble algae in an aquarium! If there is not a lot of algae or food present, these crabs generally turn a bit aggressive. Therefore, it is best to house them in the same tank with semi-aggressive fish that don’t eat invertebrates! This makes them one of the best saltwater inverts available!
Sand Sifting Sea Star
Sand Sifting Sea Stars are monsters when it comes to eating anything. Their color may not be the most attractive, and many people think they just blend in with the sand. However, these sea stars are incredible at sifting the sand and providing much needed oxygen for the aquarium. If you have live sand that just sits there, it will be like running out of oxygen. These starfish act a a vacuum cleaner and a mop for everything located on, and under the live sand. If you don’t have this invert yet, go buy one right now! They are considered one of the best invertebrates that money can purchase!
Tiny Hermit Crabs
Tiny Hermit Crabs are considered one of the most underrated invertebrates to have in any saltwater aquarium. They come at a very cheap price, and they are so small. Therefore, many people forget they are even in the saltwater aquarium! However, these crabs will spend their day destroying unwanted elements in your aquarium. These invertebrates are one of the best when it comes to removing Cyanobacteria in an aquarium. I had a bunch in my 75 gallon reef aquarium, in a couple of days, a clan of Tiny Hermit Crabs removed everything! These crabs are also known for their ability to remove algae on live rocks, and on the sand.
However, be careful what fish you add to the tank after getting these crabs. Bigger fish are generally known to eat these tiny janitors, which leaves your aquarium dirty if too many die! These crabs are definitely a fan favorite when discussing the best saltwater invertebrates.
Longspine Urchin
If you have an aquarium that generally has more aggressive fish, this urchin is the answer for you! The Longspine Urchin has long spines that help it defend against fish trying to eat it. These urchins usually come out at night to eat algae and other particles in your aquarium. This fish is considered one of the best saltwater invertebrates because of the ability to get rid of algae in an aggressive environment. However, if you have high nitrates levels in your aquarium, you might want to fix the water parameters before adding the urchin. Otherwise these urchins will suffer and most likely die in your aquarium!
