Clean Up Crew Ready?

[ReefCarl]

Hey Reef Experts!

I could use a little input on if I am ready for a clean up crew. Here's the situation...

I am at day 13 of my tank cycle;
75 gallon
Started with...
RO/DI Water
80+lbs of Cured live rock (the LFS said it was curing in their tanks for at least two weeks)
Live sand from CaribSea

My numbers have been:
Ammonia: 0 (except for day 2 when they went up to 0.25ppm)
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates 5-20 (They have recently stayed at 10 or less as the algae has continue to grow)
[In my mind, I expected a small cycle from die-off from the live rock and had a very very very very very small cycle early on. Last week, I added a table shrimp to the tank and Nitrates shot up, but I never saw any ammonia or nitrites from the shrimp)

In the attached pictures, you can see how a layer of brown algae, some reddish/brown algae, and if you look VERY carefully, you can see some green hair algae coming in.

I am starting to see a lot of other life coming out of the rock (a variety of feather dusters, a couple of bristle worms, a tiny star-shaped invert, and some aptasia :(

Is my tank ready for a clean-up crew to start taking on all of that algae that's starting up?

Thanks for your input!

 

[Paste]

I can't answer your question nearly to the degree others here can... so I will leave that to them.

Howerver I did want to say that is some nice looking growth on the rocks you have in a short period... What type of lighting do you have going on?

 

[Bifferwine]

Yep, it looks like your cycle is done. I would add a small CUC to start, then add more as you need them. If you add too many at once, they can starve to death.

 

[hoopsdaddy]

Looks like you have started out the right way! RO/DI, Waited for the cycle, Asking questions. Great job! Yes a small cleanup crew would be in order.

Also, GO BLUE!!!

 

[ReefCarl]

Thanks all for the help. This is an interesting hobby, and I enjoy the science aspect, but it is nice to have input from more experienced people. I really appreciate the help.

I added a clean up crew last evening (my LFS calls them "janitorial staff") and they seem happy. They are cleaning away.I got a pile of snails, Hermit crabs, two emerald crabs and two what I think are "Sally light foots." The store also threw in a "Halloween hermit crab" although he's not really active today. I'm worried, but we will see. Maybe he's full.

The snails have a really cool array of shells: far more interesting than I had ever imagined possible. A few of the snails are supposed to be the variety that bury themselves in the sand, but they don't look too happy. I think one was eaten by the hermit crabs overnight and the rest are just sitting around. I guess they are mourning or something.

I also picked up some algea tablets to supply food in case they clean it too quickly.

The light I'm using is a "solar flare." it was very expensive, but I am building towards corrals, and I didn't want to buy two fixtures along the way. When it goes on, it pulls 1.1 amps and the bulbs add up to 144 watts, so it's almost free to operate. That was a significant reason for picking that vs. traditional lighting.

Go Blue indeed! The rumors of Ann Arbor being a harlet are greatly exaggerated.

 

[Bifferwine]

Beware of those sally lightfoot crabs. They are aggressive predators -- I had two in my 240 gallon tank, and they killed and ate several fish before I was able to catch them and get them out. Mine weren't even that big. And these were healthy fish -- I witnessed them first-hand murdering two completely healthy, normal firefish and a sixline wrasse! Who knows what other victims they had when I wasn't watching!

It is normal for hermit crabs to kill and eat snails. It's just how they are. Putting in a variety of empty shells for them will reduce this aggression, but not eliminate it, as they do kill the snails to steal their shells. But sometimes, they kill them just to eat them.