Cleaning Crew

[LIMentality420]

I just set up my 55 gal. finally a hour ago. I have a 4 1/2 inch sand bed. I have only 15 lbs. live rock and 15 lbs. base rock. I will be getting more live rock. I'm cyclying it now with all the rock in it and 1 shrimp. My question is when do I go buy snails, crabs and shrimp ? Also wich ones do you suggest for 55 fowlr with 4 1/2 inch sand bed and how many of each ? Thanks for the help....

 

[Jonathan G.]

i would stay away from any sand sifters like cucumbers or starfish cause of your DSB but get as many different kind of snails your lfs or whoever has, also get some dwarf hermits/ some prefer scarlet or red because blue be buck wild in your tank and duke it out all the time. you might want to wait till you tank settles before you add any shrimp and test everyday to make sure your params are in check. shrimp as well as other inverts are sensitive to high nitrates so the longer you let your tank settle the better.

since you just set up your tank i'd let it cycle and build up enough bacteria for a while, test everyday to make know where your at in your cycle. and then after you tank settles down and you decide to buy your first fish buy a small cleaning crew with it... or if you buy online wait till you see some signs of algea growth and then buy a cleanup crew and get a variety of snails and hermits, i also added one emerald mythrax and one red mythrax to my tank and they are thorough cleaners.

 

[JPloman]

I would not avoid the cucumbers. They dont really sift sand, they are more of filter feeders.

Sand sifting starfish are not bad, they do eat pods though. I have a DSB and you can see all the critters I have.

Other than that I totally agree with Jonathan.

 

[AR15 guy]

I think he meant he is going to add a dead shrimp to cycle the tank.

I would go ahead and start the cycle. Then once the ammonia and nitrite both go down then you could add a cleaning crew. Althought at that time it may not be needed. Depends on how much algea you get. Once you get fish you will definetly need a clean up crew to take care of uneaten food.

Blue leg hermits do a great job. But I have already lost 2 out of 8. Pretty sure they are fighting a lot.