Additions to Tank

Piggy

Piggy

Reef enthusiast
I have a 55 gal tank. So far I have live rock and base rock in it. When can I add some creatures (snail, hermits, etc) in it ? I do water test. I want to know if I'm doing the right ones. Which ones should I be doing? So far my ammonia is 0, no nitrates or nitrites, PH is good. How do I know if the live rock is live and not dying? Hope this makes sense. I just have so many questons. The more I read the more confused I get. lol
 
If your perameters are ok your live rock is ok. Live rock is just rock with beneficial bacteria in it that turn amonia into nitrite then nitrite to nitrate. If your amonia and nitrites are 0 then your cycle is complete and you can add a cleanup crew now. To be on the safe side when you go to get your clean up crew I would bring a sample of water for your LFS to test to make sure yours is reading right. How long has the tank been set up? After a tank has cycled you usually have nitrates.
 
This is my second go. The first time I set up the tank and after it cycled. I had two clowns and several pj cardinals. I had them for several months when I wanted some more fish. So I got a yellow tang and something else (can't remember what). Anyway I didn't know I had to quanatine them and they had some kind of disease and killed all my fish. I did learn alesson. So this time after lots and lots of reading. I decided to do the live rock first and go from there. It's been about a month since I put the rock in. Is there a limit of what you call clean up crew I can add ? Also down the line I would like to add a few fish. Would this effect the number?
 
No the clean up crew will help. You can add hermits and snails. You can also use stars but I would wait till the tank has seasoned alittle more in case you end up with higher nitrates. I wouldnt add all the cleanup crew yet but I would add a good amount. Start with about 10 to 15 of what every you want then in about 2 to 3 weeks add more. You dont want to add anything that will increase the bioload to fast including fish because it may cause your tank to go through a mini cycle. Just take it slow and oyu will be ok. One thing though hermits sometimes will kill snails for there shells but I love them and wouldnt have a tank without them, however, alot of people wont add them because of that reason.
 
Bobby gave good advice so I won't repeat it but it sounds like your ready for a cleanup crew.Add a little now,a little more later,let the algae be your guide on how many and what types of cleanup crew you want.
 
Bobby and Reefs got you pretty well covered.
Have you decided on what kind of setup you want? FOWLR or reef?
You could probable go ahead and add a small hardy fish.Just remember to research the kind of fish you want,or just post it on here and we'll let you know what we think about it.
 
I'm thinking of reef with a fish or two but thats a way off. Once I figure out everything I have with my tank I'll post it to see if you all have any suggestions. Right now I'm researching what I want for my clean up crew besides snails and hermits. Is there a limit on what a tank size will hold or doesn't it matter with them? I really appreciate all the help.
 
As for how much of a cleaning crew,your algae will let you know.You want enough snails to keep your glass and rocks clear.Hermits to help comtrol the hair and help take care of uneattin food.Shrimps will take care of left overs and fish waste.
In my 55,I now have about 10 trochus snails 4 or 5 turbo snails 1 peppermint shrimp a sally lightfoot crab an emerald crab and about 15 hermits.
Then of course the hitch hiker cleaning crew,which is all kinds of worms.
Basically you want enough to keep up with the waste and algae.
The cleaners dont really count towards your total bio-load.
 
Conches are cool cleaner and are fun to watch, there a big snail with a tube that looks like a elephant trunk they eat with. In a clean up crew you will want things that eat algae, things that eat leftovers and poop, and things that turn the sand bed over and clean it. For sand sifters you can add nassarius snail and conches and later on if you want you can add a goby. For algae Turbo and astreas snails work great.
 
I won't recommend amount..but here is what the cleanup may consume.

Tongan and smaller Nassarius(stirs the sandbed,detrius,fishfood,anything that dies)
Astraea,Trochus Snails(diatoms,brown algae)
Mexican Turbo snails(hair algae)
Fighting and Queen Conch,Bubble Bee Snails(algae,scavengers)
Emerald Crabs(algae...warning:when they get larger they become aggressive,maybe going after a small fish.)
Cerith snails(stirs the sandbed,scavenger,algae)

There are prolly more but my mind is going blank.I've grown to hate hermits because they become aggressive also,not to mention they may kill snails for there shells.The only ones I could recommend is the Dwarf Blue Legged ones.I have these shrimps;Fire,Skunk Cleaner,Sexy Anemone, and Peppermint shrimps...all seem peaceful and make excellent scavengers.The Coral Banded Shrimp is to much of an opportunist,so I can't recommend that one.There are also Brittle and Serpent Stars,but I never keep any,maybe to soon for them.

Liveaquaria.com has a list of cleaners and there function...good luck.
 
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I want to thank all of you for the help. I'm going to try and decide by the end of the week what I want. Thanks again.
 
Well let us know what you come up with. Pics are always good. Its probably better to wait till next week anyway it will give your tank more time to stabilize it self. One thing you need in this hobby is patients. Take your time and you will be fine.
 
I finally went out and got a clean up crew. I got some Astrea snails,very boring hardly moves. Turbo snails which move like their name fast. Some small hermit crabs. I always loved watching them. Plus some peppermint shrimps. This may be a dumb question but do I need to feed these guys or do they get enough from the live rock and algea? I wanted to get some nassarius snails but they didn't have any. May get a crab later but I'll wait and see how these guys do.
 
Your prolly need to put a little fish food for peppermints and maybe the hermits.The others should be find on algae in the tank.Peppermints do most of their scavenging at night so when you do get fish no need to feed them.
 
I just love the peppermint shrimp. I shut off all the lights and watch them come out under the moon lights. Thanks for the wecome SSalty.
 
Your Pepperment shrimp ate a hermit?Ive never even heard of that happening before.Are you sure the hermit wasnt already dead or dieing?
 

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