What inverts are hardy....

[MattP725]

I still have a bit of a nitrate and nitrite spike in my tank... I wish I could remember what it was but it wasn't that high. My fish are def comfortable... I was wondering what kind of cleanup crew could help out? Are hermits ok? Seriously the levels are not dangerous but I don't want to stress out any inverts that can't take it.

 

[quarryshark]

Most inverts I know of are sensative to nitrite. You could try putting in a couple snails first and see how they do for a week or so. If Ok then maybe a couple of Hermit Crabs. I would stay away from stars until your nitrite goes down.
If the tank is established and the fish are OK, you may want to switch test kits. Maybe you are getting a false reading.

 

[phases99]

You shouldn't be adding any critters to your tank with nitrite present. Your fish are stressed even if they don't show it. Why are you spiking?

 

[MattP725]

Well my tank is pretty new so it hasn't formed all the bacteria yet... only approx a month old. The amm is 0 the nitrite is like .25-.50 and the nitrate is 10-20 (this is all as of yesterday). I am sure that the levels will continue to drop over the next few weeks (they were much higher about a week or two ago) but I have had a pretty crappy algae problem on my LR as well as the glass and sand so I figured some hardy inverts may be able to give the tank a hand. My trigger that is in there now was the first fish I cycled with so he lived through some bad crap so he is honestly pretty content in my opinion. He is very active and eats constantly... The tang is new and even he is really active... he follows the trigger around the tank so I think the levels are low enough that they aren't too bothered by it.

 

[phases99]

Unfortunately any invert you add will probably become dinner for your Trigger.

 

[MattP725]

I did have one shrimp that I bought before my tank cycled (before I knew better) and the trigger actually liked him because the shrimp would clean him off. I caught him swimming up to the rock the shrimp was on so he could feed off of him for a few minutes. I am not saying that he won't eat any inverts... I am just saying that for some reason he liked that one. I figured he couldn't do much to a crab or snail though...

 

[MT79]

tank is pretty new so it hasn't formed all the bacteria yet... only approx a month old. The amm is 0 the nitrite is like .25-.50

You need to let your tank cycle before you do anything else. Nitrite should be undetectable before adding inverts. Algae is a common problem in new tanks, with a messy eater like a trigger it wouldn't surprise me if yours was alittle worse than average! BTW, I am a big fan of fishless cycling. Tangs are especially at risk due to poor water quality, so keep a very close eye on it. They are quit vulnerable to ich and/or HLLE due to stress. I would advice a few small water changes at this point, 15-20%, a few days apart to keep down the nitrite. HTH