Is this a good cleaning crew?

[djmpj2]

Our ammonia went to zero. As soon as the nitrites go to zero we can add a cleaning crew, right? We have so much brown stuff, we are anxious to get them in there. I am thinking of ordering them from saltwaterfish.com. Also, will the algae in the tank be enough food for them or do we have to feed them these algae sheets I am hearing about? What do you think of this combo:

5 peppermint shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp
10 Scarlet Hermit Crabs
10 turbo/astrea snails

DJ

 

[tripper]

The brown stuff you are seeing are diatoms. This is common in a new tank as you complete your cycle. It will burn itself out in a week or so. As for the cleaning crew, I would not add any shrimp yet, I would make sure your nitrates are low enough. The hermits and snails sound good though. I would suggest some Nassarius snails as well. They burrow in the sand and stir the substrate.

tripper

 

[quarryshark]

Agree with tripper, bust to start out with a few hermits and snails to see how they do for a week or 2.

 

[SeriousDude5]

Also you might consider a star fish eventually they contribute also...and yes starting out with a few things at once to make sure they live would be advisable.