Can I add a hermit crab to my tank

TristanBara1273!!

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I’ve been cycling my saltwater tank for about 2 weeks now and i am able to add 2ppm of ammonia and within a day it drops to .5ppm should i add a hermit crab or should i wait until i can add 2ppm and it stop to 0 overnight
 

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Are you following a program where you're at the stage to introduce cleanup crew or is this just because you're wondering if the tank is ready to start supporting cleanup crew? The answer is probably yes, although I might start with something more applicable like a snail.
 
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TristanBara1273!!

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oh okie :) because i tested my water today and my nitrites and ammonia were at 0 so i added some to just yknow feed the bacteria and i was planning tomorrow to test the water do a water change then get some clean up crews so would that be good?
 

ZombieEngineer

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also i’ve been keeping my lights off to prevent algae growth as someone from my local pet store told me too
The hermit will not help the cycle if your lights are off. They need food.

Two schools of thought with lights. One school is if you have no light you get no algae growth, so your water changes can remove more nitrate.

Another school of thought is lights on promote algae growth, which can be manually removed to export the excess nitrates so less water changing is required. Also allows you to dial in a cleanup crew that helps speed up nitrate cycle if you do a fishless cycle.

I am a second school of thought guy, but the first school of thought has a lot of merit too.
 
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TristanBara1273!!

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The hermit will not help the cycle if your lights are off. They need food.

Two schools of thought with lights. One school is if you have no light you get no algae growth, so your water changes can remove more nitrate.

Another school of thought is lights on promote algae growth, which can be manually removed to export the excess nitrates so less water changing is required. Also allows you to dila in a cleanup crew.

I am a second school of thought guy, but the first school of thought has a lot of merit too.
so i would be alright if i kept my lights off because i used to just turn them on during the day and then off during the night
 

ReefLife_Guy

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Based on the information you provided and what most of the experts on here (including Dr. Tim) will tell you, is that your tank is cycled and you are good to slowly add livestock. Don't continue to add ammonia "as a food source" for the bacteria because they can live just fine in the tank without it. You can add a cleanup crew if you want but they don't produce a large enough bio load to have any effect on the nitrifying bacteria you have built up. You will have to feed them too, any little bit of algae you have in the tank won't be enough for a hermit crab or snail.
 
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TristanBara1273!!

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Based on the information you provided and what most of the experts on here (including Dr. Tim) will tell you, is that your tank is cycled and you are good to slowly add livestock. Don't continue to add ammonia "as a food source" for the bacteria because they can live just fine in the tank without it. You can add a cleanup crew if you want but they don't produce a large enough bio load to have any effect on the nitrifying bacteria you have built up. You will have to feed them too, any little bit of algae you have in the tank won't be enough for a hermit crab or snail.
are you sure? because i’ve thought that you need to wait until you can add 2ppm and it drop to like 0 overnight and my ammonia goes to 0 but my nitrite goes down to 0.5
 

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yea i did
What test kit are you using? After you added the last dose of 2ppm ammonia, what was your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, 24 hours after? If after 24 hours, you have ammonia close to zero, nitrite close to zero, and small measurable amount of nitrate then you are ready to add 1-2 fish as long as your salinity and water temp are good to go.
 
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TristanBara1273!!

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What test kit are you using? After you added the last dose of 2ppm ammonia, what was your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, 24 hours after? If after 24 hours, you have ammonia close to zero, nitrite close to zero, and small measurable amount of nitrate then you are ready to add 1-2 fish as long as your salinity and water temp are good to go.
i use API Master Saltwater Test Kit and my Ammonia and Nitrite are very close to zero and i need to do a water change to lower my nitrates
 

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i use API Master Saltwater Test Kit and my Ammonia and Nitrite are very close to zero and i need to do a water change to lower my nitrates
Yeah, I think most on here would agree that your tank has performed its initial cycle and you are safe to add your first fish or pair of fish as long as your salinity is at 1.025-1.026 and your water temp is around 78F. If your ammonia was 0.5ppm 24 hours after adding the 2ppm ammonia source then it is probably going to be zero at 36 hours. Based on what you said you have both populations of bacteria to convert the ammonia to nitrite to nitrate. Do a water change and as long as your ammonia is 0 at that point then you are good to add 1-2 hardy fish. Most people want a pair of clownfish, which is what I would recommend to be as your first residents in your new tank. Your tank will go through multiple cycles as you add more fish, this is inevitable as the bacterial population has to increase with the increased bioload of the new inhabitants.
 

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