Cycle and clean up crew

[hardparts2]

Well my 55g with 60 lbs of live rock has been running for 3 weeks. I tested this morning and this is what I got.

SG 1.0265
PH 7.8
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 3 Where off the scale but droped to this in 2 days
Nitrates 30
Phospate 0
Alk 300
Cal 400

I think my cycle is almost done and I am thinking of a clean up crew. This is the one I am looking at http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03 ... arent_id=4

I am also thinking on getting a lawnmower blenny because I cycled with my lights on and I have quite a bit of hair alge and slime alge. I was going to order this for friday do you think I shoud wait my nitrites may be 0 buy then? Do you think this crew would work?

 

[Anonymous]

I would wait to add the fish until the tank is ready. No reason to take the risk. If it were me I would turn the lights off or atleast reduce the photo period for the rest of the cycle. As far as the clen up crew in the link it is not what I would get. I do not think it has enough snails. I am not a fan of hermits, but that is a preference. I do not see where the coral banded shrimp will do anything for you (cool shrimp if you want one tho). IMO you would be better with mexica turbo snails, asterae, certh, and nassarius (please forgive the spelling). Add a few scarler hermits if you like.

 

[Anonymous]

i also like snails and they do not mix well with some types of hermits considering they have a tendency to evict the current residence of there new homes and that happens to be the snails. the problem comes when you try to keep some animals like tri clams. most people sugest that you dont keep any snails if you keep these clams. as for a cleanup crew some do well when the tank is full of alge and die back once its eaten. go with a couple of snails like turbos 5 would be a good start and mabe some nastrius to work the substrate and let them do there thing for a while. the alge will disapear in a few weeks and you dont want a hole lot of clean up crew to be hanging out to die because there is nothing to eat. best to add them slowly and add more if there is not enough than to fill the tank up and have them dieing off. as for trying to fix problems with animals this is not a good path to take. keep good water quality and the problems of cycling and alge will go away shortly and then you will not have a bunch of maintence animals that you dont realy need or like.

 

[Anonymous]

I have not heard of anyone haveing problems with the clean up type snails and calms. I have never had problems with and of the clams I have had and the snails. As far as the clean up crew. I do not know of any tank that does not need some sort of maintenace critters. I will agree that is not good practice to just trhow a tom of snails and such in the tank. Many will die, and polute the tank. Best is to have good water quality and the minimum amount of clean up critters.

 

[Anonymous]

could not agree more..... slow and stedy building a reef is like building a boat. you can get there in a hurry but will not like the finished product, and the journey is half the fun.

my animal comment had to do with the fish to clarify../..

 

[Anonymous]

No problem.

 

[hardparts2]

Would this crew be a little better http://www.vividaquariums.com/10Expand. ... de=02-1702

Thanks Bob

 

[trido]

After looking at the price of that package. I would reccommend you just go to the LFS and buy the same stuff and not pay for shipping. That doesnt look like a special deal to me. Your critters will spend less time in the bag and you can pick and chose.

 

[hardparts2]

I live in the sticks and there is not any good lfs in the area. I have had to order almost all my stuff on line. It sucks but thats how I have to do it.Do lawnmower blennies eat hair alge?

Thanks Bob

 

[trido]

Do lawnmower blennies eat hair alge?

Ive heard they do.
Bummer for the sticks. It has its good side to though. Ive lived there as well.

 

[PikachuSalad]

I was thinking about this crew:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod ... CatId=1944

Eat detrius and algae, and they're all cool looking.

 

[Anonymous]

thats not too bad.
_________________
Male Advice Forum

 

[Meloco14]

I have ordered a clean up crew from etropicals.com. It was pretty good, but more than needed. So if you order one, order one for like a 30 gallon tank instead of a 55. The other thing I like about etropicals is they have an option to build your own clean up crew. I think you have to spend like $60 minimum but it's not a bad deal. I think they might have free shipping on the packages too, but not sure. Another place to check out for new tanks is www.ipsf.com. They have a few different kinds of snails, all captive raised, and they are all good algae eaters. The little strombus are great, they are small and dont knock things over, and they reproduce in the aquarium so you have a never-ending supply. The hermit crabs they offer are a little safer then typical blue legs, but still not 100% safe. No crabs are, IME. They also have some macro algae if you plan to start a refugium. Oh, and I would wait at least a week after your ammonia and nitrites hit 0 before adding anything. Inverts like snails and hermits are very susceptible to nitrite, so theres no point in rushing just to kill them off. This will also hopefully give your tank time for the pH to raise a bit. Your salinity might be a tad high, and i am not familiar with the units you are using for your alk measurement. Calcium looks good though. Good luck and don't be afraid to be patient.

 

[Meloco14]

So I just checked out etropicals again, and it looks like a pretty good deal. With the build your own package, as long as you order $60 or more shipping is free. They have a pretty good selection, you can get a variety of snails, crabs, shrimp, and brittle stars. Personally I would recommend some astreas, nassarius, maybe some turbos and ceriths, a conch or two, some peppermint shrimp, maybe a brittle star or emerald crab. Anyway, have fun with it.