Can i add a CUC?

Cole2h2

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Tank has been running over a week, diatoms have appeared along with many hitchhikers, is it okay to add a CUC? Or is the tank still cycling

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I dosed Phyto and copepods a week before fish and CUC.

I have so many pods now 3 months later that they actually clean the glass- thinking about getting a Dragonette!

If you started with real live rock, you should in theory be ready for one or two fish, but since it's live rock it could have things like Velvet and Ich... in that case I would start with a few shrimp and go fallow.
 

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Did you add any bacteria?

How exactly did you cycle the tank.

You can’t really tell just by the test results unless we know how the cycle was started.
 

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Did you add any bacteria?

How exactly did you cycle the tank.

You can’t really tell just by the test results unless we know how the cycle was started.
Pics look like live rock. Paradise confirmed nitrifying. The only thing is missing is food for the CUC
 
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Cole2h2

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Did you add any bacteria?

How exactly did you cycle the tank.

You can’t really tell just by the test results unless we know how the cycle was started.
I added with live sand and live rock from a established reef tank
 

Reef.

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I added with live sand and live rock from a established reef tank

if all the rock was from a mature tank and not just shop bought then that’s a great start, sounds as if you are cycled, the sand will probably just be dry sand with bacteria added so not as cycled as it could be.

I would only add a very small cuc if any, the idea is they eat the algae etc but you don’t have any so they will either starve or you’ll have to feed them so defeating their purpose…you could add something like a cleaner shrimp, you would have to feed it daily, cool to do, any food it doesn’t eat you can easily remove, I feed my octopus, clam in half shell etc.
 
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Cole2h2

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if all the rock was from a mature tank then that’s a great start, sounds as if you are cycled, the sand will probably just be dry sand with bacteria added so not as cycled as it could be.

I would only add a very small cuc if any, the idea is they eat the algae etc but you don’t have any so they will either starve or you’ll have to feed them so defeating their purpose…you could add something like a cleaner shrimp, you would have to feed it daily, cool to do, any food it doesn’t eat you can easily remove, I feed my octopus, clam in half shell etc.
The live sand was the pre packed fiji pink, like agra rock or something?
 
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Also is it safe to add a frag or what should i introduce first? Fish,cuc, frag idk?
 

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The live sand was the pre packed fiji pink, like agra rock or something?

yeah it’s not live from the sea, it’s just dry sand and they add a little bottled bacteria to it, so it will become fully live in the tank, it’s like buying dry rock and they handing you a bottle of bacteria to add to it as you leave the shop.

There is a difference between shop bought live rock and rock from an existing tank, the shop bought stuff you have to trust it has been stored correctly, it has been shipped a long way and gone through a lot of people hands, so you maybe best testing the cycle first.

you can add 2ppm of Dr Tim’s ammonia and see how long it takes to register zero, should be 24 hours, if longer than that I would wait..but as said if from a mature tank, straight into your tank, you should be near enough fully cycled, enough to start slowly.
 
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yeah it’s not live from the sea, it’s just dry sand and they add a little bottled bacteria to it, so it will become fully live in the tank, it’s like buying dry rock and they handing you a bottle of bacteria to add to it as you leave the shop.

There is a difference between shop bought live rock and rock from an existing tank, the shop bought stuff you have to trust it has been stored correctly, it has been shipped a long way and gone through a lot of people hands, so you maybe best testing the cycle first.

you can add 2ppm of Dr Tim’s ammonia and see how long it takes to register zero, should be 24 hours, if longer than that I would wait..but as said if from a mature tank, straight into your tank, you should be near enough fully cycled, enough to start slowly.
The rock was from my friends established tank, and okay yeah i already have algea and diatoms starting to form
 
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Also are these guys aptasia or a worm?
 

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The rock was from my friends established tank, and okay yeah i already have algea and diatoms starting to form
I think you should be good to add some CUC. I would just do some supplemental feedings if you think there isn't enough for them to eat.

Fis definitely safe. I would personally wait with the frags till your parameters are stable
so I did the reefbuilders method and just threw in some frags after my cycle was complete. All my frags have opened and appear to be doing well 3 weeks later... Again I am pretty new at this, so I wouldn't take my word for it.
 

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The rock was from my friends established tank, and okay yeah i already have algea and diatoms starting to form

Yeah go for it, if you are happy there is plenty food for them.

If going for any crabs be aware they will eat the snails if hungry, some eat corals and will also,kill the snails if you don’t provide an assortment of empty shells for them to grow into, maybe best starting with snails etc or research which crabs you want as they are cool to have in the tank.
 

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Yeah go for it, if you are happy there is plenty food for them.

If going for any crabs be aware they will eat the snails if hungry, some eat corals and will also,kill the snails if you don’t provide an assortment of empty shells for them to grow into, maybe best starting with snails etc or research which crabs you want as they are cool to have in the tank.
Yep, I have a couple rouge hermits that ate a couple polyps off of my birdsnest.
Those two have one more chance before I sump them.
 

Reef.

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Yep, I have a couple rouge hermits that ate a couple polyps off of my birdsnest.
Those two have one more chance before I sump them.

I have a couple of metallic blue legged crabs, they are very well behaved. I do target feed them tho.
Funny to see them all eating together, the crabs, snails and cleaner shrimp all around the same piece of food.
 

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