Clean-Up Crew Now or Later?

[jadefox]

For a bunch of reasons (some beyond my control), I am buying "cured" live rock at the LFS today. It's been in their tank for a month under halides and looks great. I will be adding it to a new 30 gallon tank that has been running with just saltwater for a week. I think I'll go about 3/4 fiji and 1/4 Marshall--about 40-45 lbs in all. Our tank has a pvc rack built for the live rick to sit on and 4 inches of substrate. Here's my question:

Should I add some snails and hermits with the cured live rock to start the clean-up process right away? OR should I wait on the clean-up crew?

[seasalt dreams]

if the rock has lots on it for them to eat, go for it, but if not, you will have to suppliment the CUC or it will die.

[Kevin1000]

In general .. wait until your sure the tank has cycled then add your clean up crew. Start with a very small clean up crew .. be patient .. and add as necessary. Each tank is different and diversity is often more important than quantity .. different critters eat different things (nassarius snails are meat eaters, turbo's are algae eaters etc).

[Loverotties]

Like Kevin said ,waite till it has cycled!

[seasalt dreams]

I never cycled when buying "cured" LR.

[dobejazz]

Since patience is the most important thing in this hobby (something I'm lacking)
I'd suggest you wait at least a week or 2 before adding inverts they are more susceptible to nitrite and nitrate and depending on how you transport your cured rock you could still have a cycle if there is die off on the rock

[motorslave]

I agree, just wait it out a bit and see what happens. You just added a whole new element to the tank so let it settle a bit and see what happens. test your water in a couple weeks and see where it is. Then if all is well add a couple snails. You wont need much and no reason to add if they arent needed yet!

[seasalt dreams]

yup .. no food, no clean up crew. I will never add them again until there is plenty to eat, so probably a couple months after setup, as supplimenting food for them is just a pitb. I learned that on my first tank when most of them died.

[jadefox]

Thanks everyone...the live rock looks great (good color/no smell), and it's in the tank. Some snails made the trip home too with the live rock. Should I feed them or just leave them to their own devices?

[jadefox]

Once the tank has cycled and there is food for them, I am thinking of adding the following Indo-Pacific CUC. Thoughts?

1 Randall's Pistol Shrimp - Cany Stripe Shrimp
3 Marshall Island Electric Blue Hermit
2 Tongalace - Nassarius species
12 Tongalace Nassarius Snails - Nassarius species
5 Trochus Snail (Banded) - Trochus species

[jadefox]

Okay! So our tank has been running since the 3rd of August with "cured" live rock. I have some nice coraline growth and the hitchhikers are still going to town. My temp is too high (as high as 86 but sitting around 81-82), so I think I will add a chiller this week. Most recent water parems were as follows:

Specific gravity: 1.022-1.023

NO2: 0.1

NH4: <0.25

I am running my lights, pump, canister filter, and skimmer with 1 oscilating powerhead in the tank.

Here's my question--who should we add first:

1) coral first (we're considering Red Open Brain Coral (Trachyphyllia geoffroyi), Yellow Fiji Leather (Sarcophyton species), Candy Coral (Caulestrea furcata), Torch Coral (Euphyllia glabrescens), Frogspawn (Euphyllia divisa), and/or Hammer Coral (Euphyllia Ancora).

2) initial clean-up crew first (1 Randall's Pistol Shrimp - Cany Stripe Shrimp, 3 Marshall Island Electric Blue Hermit, 2 Tonga Fighting Conch - Nassarius species, 12 Tonga Nassarius Snails - Nassarius species, and 5 Trochus Snail (Banded) - Trochus species).

3) free-swimmers (3 Chromis viridis (Green Chromis Damsel)).

4) our bottom fish (1 Ecsenius midas--Midas Blenny and 1 Stonogobiops yasha--Candy Stripe Goby).

OR

5) clowns (2 Amphiprion percula--True Percula Clown)

Any suggestions or recommendations on next steps would be GREATLY appreciated!



--------------------

Ret
____

30 gal. Indo-Pacific Reef Tank (30 gallon-tall tank with a Berlin classic sump, in-sump needle wheel skimmer, Current USA Outer Orbit w/moon lights (1x150w 10k HQI-MH/2x65w dual actinic/4 lunar lights), Sedra pump (KSP-9000 90w, 9000 GPH), Ebo Jager heater 75 watt, 36 lbs Marshall Island live rock, 18 lbs baserock, and 25 pound bags Sun/day sand (about 4 inches of golden round pure aragonite) & 3 African Chiclid Tanks (55, 45 and 20)

[hng]

It sounds like a pretty full tank you have planned. My biggest advice would be to add a couple of things at a time. Nothing good happens in a hurry in a reef tank. It's also quite common to have a "mini cycle" when adding new things. I'm worried about the temperature swings, that's a big difference between and a swing like that would be extremely stressful for corals. You also probably don't need nearly as much of a cleanup crew as you think, I'd cut it in half or less. That's also a lot of fish for a tank that size.

[jadefox]

Originally Posted by hng

It sounds like a pretty full tank you have planned. My biggest advice would be to add a couple of things at a time. Nothing good happens in a hurry in a reef tank. It's also quite common to have a "mini cycle" when adding new things. I'm worried about the temperature swings, that's a big difference between and a swing like that would be extremely stressful for corals. You also probably don't need nearly as much of a cleanup crew as you think, I'd cut it in half or less. That's also a lot of fish for a tank that size.

Thanks for your help. We want to go VERY slow, so we are simply considering what to add first realizing that we will NOT add everything we have considered. What would you suggest first? Coral, fish or clean-up?

The temp is not swinging wildly any more--that is the range since we set the tank up. For the past two weeks it has stayed between 81 and 83, but nonetheless, I am getting the chiller tomorrow. I agree with you on the clean-up crew; but the consensus from others has been MORE! lol. I can always add if we need to.

I think we'll probably end up with some corals (probably the Red Open Brain Coral and some Euphyllia), the Randall's Pistol Shrimp, 1 Midas Blenny and 1 Candy Stripe Goby and the two clowns. The 3 Green Chromis Damsels were an idea for cycling, and it would be nice to have the schoolies IF the tank was bigger...lol. So....4 fish and the shrim along with coral and clean-up. Sound okay?

[hng]

Save your money and hold off on the chiller. Have you considered a fan to help ventilate and cool the tank? IME a fan is a great way to decrease the temp by a degree or two and that sounds like exactly what you need. You should also cool the halide bulb (though not directly) to extend bulb life. I would add the cleanup crew first, coral and fish second. Of all the corals you listed, the hardiest and probably the best to start off with would be the leather or candy cane.

[jadefox]

Originally Posted by hng

Save your money and hold off on the chiller. Have you considered a fan to help ventilate and cool the tank? IME a fan is a great way to decrease the temp by a degree or two and that sounds like exactly what you need. You should also cool the halide bulb (though not directly) to extend bulb life. I would add the cleanup crew first, coral and fish second. Of all the corals you listed, the hardiest and probably the best to start off with would be the leather or candy cane.

Thanks again. Being a reef tank newbie is daunting, and all the help is soooooo appreciated. I live in Southern California with no air conditioning in the house, so I'm thinking the chiller may be worth it--especially if I want to run the halides and bring the tank down to 78-degrees. There are four fans built into the lights, but I have to mount it low over the tank because of space, so I'm afraid that in the summer the only way to keep the temp at 78 will be a chiller. What do you think? Should I worry about my clean-up crew having enough to eat if I add them first? Thanks again!