Saltwater Aquarium Invertebrates

In addition to or in place of fish, you may want to keep certain invertebrates in your saltwater aquarium. There are plenty of options to choose from, but you should understand how to properly care for invertebrates and add them to your tank. To help answer some questions you might have about invertebrates in saltwater tanks, here are a few common FAQs.

Types of Saltwater Invertebrates

  1. Shrimps 
  2. Lobsters 
  3. Anemones 
  4. Clams 
  5. Urchins 
  6. Snails 
  7. Cucumbers 
  8. Starfish 
  9. Scallops 
  10. Feather Dusters
  11. Seahorses 

Saltwater Invertebrates Care Guide

Do you need information on a specific type invertebrate for your saltwater aquarium? Every invert has different eating patterns and food. We have all the info you need to take care of your saltwater invert. Click a guide below. 

Shrimps

Lobsters

Anemones

Snails

Urchins

Clams

Starfish

Cucumbers

Seahorses

Dusters

Scallops

Saltwater Tank Invertebrate FAQs

When can I add inverts to my reef tank?

Various invertebrates will function as a kind of cleanup crew for your saltwater aquarium before you add fish. For example, you may want to add crabs, snails, starfish, or shrimps that help maintain a healthy tank environment. These invertebrates will perform a few key tasks, including algae control, sifting through sand, and cleaning up certain non-living organic matter as scavengers. When cycling your tank with live rock, you should add inverts to your reef tank as soon as the cycle finishes. This is due to the buildup of algae and live rock die-off that’s likely to be present. Adding invertebrates at this point would help begin the cleanup process and prepare your tank before adding fish. Remember, you should use multiple species to form a complete cleanup crew for your tank. Some species to use may include:

  • Red- or Blue-Legged Hermit Crabs
  • Emerald Green Crabs
  • Sally Lightfoot Crabs
  • Nerite, Asterea, Nassarius, or Trochus Snails
  • Coral-Banded, Sand-Sifting, Peppermint, or Cleaner Shrimps

Meanwhile, you may want to avoid using other species such as limpets, chitons, and urchins for cleanup due to their inability to tolerate low-quality water conditions.

How do you acclimate inverts?

Invertebrates are considerably more sensitive to their environment than fish, making it crucial to slowly acclimate them to the tank’s water conditions.

One way to do this is to use drip acclimation, which involves dripping water into the invert’s fish bag. This method involves setting up a mechanism that allows incremental dripping of tank water into the bag. This setup normally consists of a length of tubing for siphoning, a pail or pitcher, and clamps that secure the airline in place to the edge of the tank and the pail or pitcher.

When acclimating the inverts, you can take the following steps using the drip acclimation method:

  1. Float the invertebrate bag on the top of the tank for 20-30 minutes, which will adjust the bag’s water temperature to that of the tank.
  2. Empty the bag water into the pail or pitcher.
  3. Form a siphon from the tank to the invertebrate container using the tubing and clamps. Once set up, the drip rate should be around one to two drips per second.
  4. Once the container is nearly full, empty about a third of the water and continue the drip.
  5. After around 90 minutes, you’ll likely be able to add the invertebrates to the tank.

Do you quarantine inverts?

The short answer is yes. Like fish, you must quarantine invertebrates to prevent potentially harmful organisms from contaminating the aquarium. Even though ich and other similar parasites can’t actually feed on inverts, they could wind up attached to these animals’ exoskeletons and shells, potentially causing indirect harm to fish.

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Additional Information About Aquarium Invertebrates