Clean up Crew for my 55 Gal FOWLR

[Noob Aquarist]

My tank is fully cycled and i dont have any fish or inverts in there at all. Just live sand and live rock. Can I go ahead and get a clean up crew or should I get a couple fish first?

if so how much/what kind of a clean up crew would I need?

 

[TheTodd]

I would go fish first. You don't "need" a CUC if there is no algae or detritus (poop) to clean. Get them if you like little critters, but they are not ever a necessity. They eat and poop too, so they are not really taking anything out of the equation.

 

[Callen]

Thanks for asking noob. I had the same question.

Now we get to choose our fish and start stocking our tanks!

 

[ivan_dalmatia]

You can can throw in a damselfish or hermit crabs as they are very tolerant of ammonia and nitrite and vigorous aeration.

 

[TheTodd]

You can can throw in a damselfish or hermit crabs as they are very tolerant of ammonia and nitrite and vigorous aeration.

The tank is already cycled, so there should not be ammonia or nitrites.

I would suggest starting off with fish that you want. Damsels are terrors and many people regret putting them in at some point in time. IMO, starting off with a CUC and no fish is odd. What are they going to "clean up" in a freshly cycled tank? No poop from fish and probably no algae.

 

[carey]

I've added cuc before fish before, its not that odd lol. I happen to really enjoy the snails and hermits though and I don't add them to clean up really just cause I like em.

 

[TheTodd]

I said "IMO".

I've got nothing against CUCs. I'd just rather get a fish or two in first. That's just me. You could always get a fish and a few crabs/snails. Best of both worlds, problem solved.

 

[ivan_dalmatia]

Once cycled, large fluctuations in feeding and livestock populations should be avoided as they can promote overgrowth by other bacteria that displace the nitrifiers, allowing buildup of nitrites to harmful concentrations (>0.1mg/L) faster than the bacteria can metabolize these nitrites to harmless nitrates!

 

[carey]

Oh, I know, everyone has their own way of doing things. Usually I do add fish first, they give me much more satisfaction than just cuc. lol

 

[ivan_dalmatia]

Personally I popped in 2 little clowns into a 75 gallon that has bin cycling with bio spira, biozyme, purple up, 180lbs of LR for maybe a month. Everything went great
3rd fish little blue tail damselfish who's still with me 3 years later and just a cut little fish!

 

[carey]

Personally I popped in 2 little clowns into a 75 gallon that has bin cycling with bio spira, biozyme, purple up, 180lbs of LR for maybe a month. Everything went great
3rd fish little blue tail damselfish who's still with me 3 years later and just a cut little fish!

With all that rock you were probably pretty much cycled. that helps tremendously. i try to always start a tank with ALOT of live rock so that my cycle is short or even non existent.

 

[Noob Aquarist]

Thanks for all the replies guys! I am going to start with two clowns. And then maybe add a CUC two weeks after. Its just a little unerving adding my first fish with this being my first time...

 

[Callen]

I just added my first fish this week! Started with a black and white clown, a yellow watchman and a cleaner shrimp. The watchman jumped the overflow box the first night . The shrimp died on the second day. Turns out my salinity was too high even though my hydrometer was reading OK range. I added a much smaller second clown yesterday but am not gonna do anymore inverts until I get things more stable. Both clowns are happy and checking out every nook and cranny of the tank. They never separate from each other. When it came time to feed I was actually nervous! They gobbled it up like pros and I'm hoping the hermits eat the leftovers. Never noticed a blip on the water parameters.