Saltwater Invertebrates – Best For Beginners!

One of the most popular shrimp that you will ever see. These super hardy, super helpful shrimp are a great addition to any reef. They will set up a ‘Cleaning Station’ at their chosen overhang or cave to allow fish to come to them to have dead scales and parasites picked from them.

These reef-safe, peaceful animals make great additions to any tank and when bought small are great for a Nano-Reef. These shrimp will become very active when food is introduced into the aquarium. You can find them swimming and stealing food from the mouths of your coral!

Probably the second most popular saltwater shrimp you will find in an aquarium. The bright red coloration of this shrimp really draws the eye when they are our cruising your tank, but that vividness will cost you more!

Another cleaning shrimp but does not seem to be as bold as the Cleaner Shrimp. This shrimp is another inhabitant you can add to a nano aquarium when purchased small.

They like to hide in dark areas so ensure that you provide plenty of rock for them to find a place to call home.

The Pistol Shrimp is one of the only shrimp available in our hobby that has natural symbiotic relationships with Gobies.

Pairing a Pistol Shrimp with a Yellow Watchman Goby will give your aquarium a unique but odd couple. They will share their own sand cave, with the shrimp providing protection while the Goby provides the early warning.

Ensure you have a sandy substrate and lots of live rock for this shrimp to make its cave.

The Peppermint Shrimp is one of the first lines of defense against the dreaded Aiptasia coral pest. This shrimp will actively seek out this nuisance intruder and devour every one it finds.

Many aquarists have one of these in their tank as a preventative solution incase any Aiptasia make it through your acclimation inspections of new coral, or hiding in unseen areas of live rock.

These shrimp look very similar to Camelback shrimp which do not prey on Aiptasia.

A very unique longlegged crab that will instantly bring attention to the viewers of your aquarium.

This crab is a fast mover due to its long legs and should only be kept in larger aquariums with fast-moving inhabitants. They are easy to keep be do not keep them with Feather Dusters or Coral Banded Shrimp as they will become its next meal.

This crab will eat anything it can get its claws on and will steal food from the mouths of coral and any other inhabitant it decides.

Hermit crabs are one of my favorite invertebrates in my aquarium. Their unique homes carried on their backs make them an interesting character. I recommend the Scarlett Hermit crab for beginners as hermit crabs can demolish your snail population for their shells.

The scarlet is a rather placid crab and tends to leave the snails alone, making them a better option for you. Just purchase a variety of different sized empty shells from the fish store and drop them out of sight behind the rocks for them to find.

These scavengers will eat anything they find including algae.

Also commonly known as the Mithrax crab these Little Green Algae-Munching machines are perfect for helping prevent the spread of Bubble Algae. Just like the Peppermint Shrimp, they can be kept in your aquarium to help them seek out and destroy Bubble Algae before it has the chance to bloom.

They will eat any other algae they find but keep them fed with nori if your aquarium is unmatured or clean. The females tend to be less aggressive to other tank mates and prey on the algae more.

Also commonly known as the Boxing Crab due to the appearance of boxing gloves on its claws. These anemones are used to collect minute food particles passing through the water on which it feeds.

It can also be seen waving its pom pom’s at nearby inhabitants that it wants to warn off. This is a tiny crab growing up to about 1″ in diameter and as such needs to be kept in a peaceful aquarium to prevent it from becoming a meal.

The size of this crab and its ease to keep make it perfect for nano aquariums.

The long slender shell make this an instantly recognizable member of your janitorial army.

These nocturnal algae eaters bury themselves in the sandbed during the day which helps to keep detritus build-up at bay while turning over the sand at the same time.

They are super easy to keep, requiring no additional attention from you. Don’t be worried if you never seem to see them as they will be buried. Inspect your aquarium at night with a flashlight and you will see them out doing their job.

My all-time favorite snail! I always have an army of these workaholics!

Another snail that buries itself in the sand bed and helps keep it turned over, but you can find these guys because their ‘Snorkel’ sits poking out of the sand waiting to sniff out food!

These snails will cruise the sand, glass, rocks and eat everything, but their best feature is they can right themselves if they get knocked off the glass.

Many other snails are unable to right themselves becoming an easy meal for fish and crabs.

The Bulldozer’s of the aquarium Clean-Up-Crew! These algae-munching monsters never stop. You can usually find them on your glass leaving funky trails wherever they have been.

These are snails best introduced when a tank is mature enough to have a consistent supply of algae or when you begin to see the signs of on algae bloom starting.

Their large size gives them the Bulldozer nicknames as they will nock off small rock and corals if they are not secured well.

These snails are unable to right themselves so you may find you are regularly giving them a flip over before the hermits find them!

The Black and Yellow stripes on its shell give them the aptly named Bumble Bee. The omnivores will cruise the aquarium feeding on both algae and detritus.

Similar to the Nassarius snail, they have a snorkel on the front of their head that allows them to reach into cracks and crevices to remove food, but also to right themselves if knocked over.