Clean Up Crew

[saltsavage]

Hey y'all I'm new to saltwater aquariums so a couple questions. I have a 29 gallon long rectangle tank and finally have the salinity right so I can put my live rock in.

How long after the live rock goes in do I put a cleanup crew in?

What do you suggest as a good starting crew? Looking for species and numbers of each!

Thanks all the help is much appreciated!

 

[Coastie Reefer]

You'll need to get a test kit to see if you have a cycle. Did you use live rock or dry rock? Check out reefcleaners.org. John has awesome info on clean up crews @reefcleaners

 

[Diesel]

@Coastie Reefer is spot on.
Test if you get a cycle an when you successful cycled your tank that Ammonia and Nitrite is close to 0.0 and have some algae as diatoms you can put a CUC in your tank.
@reefcleaners is IMO the best, better and more CUC for your $$$

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Imo, usually three to four weeks. trust me you'll know when. mostly snails imo. crabs are ot to be trusted and are specialised. so I like to wait ands see on them. too many to fast they starve. in a 29 prob 3 or 4 of each 4 small snails one turbo please, and maybe three four crabs and one cool one, I like green knuckle. a brittle star, not a serpent star. that selection will leave you room down the road if you need a specialised eater.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/choosing-cleanup-crew-critters.258695/

 

[saltsavage]

Thanks that helps a ton. I'm going with dry rock and one pound of live rock to seed the dry.

 

[saltsavage]

Right now I just have my tank with live sand and water in it. I am getting the dry rock in the mail and will get the live rock from the LFS. When I put my dry rock in with the seeding live rock, do I need to put some shrimp or crabs in it as well while it cycles? Or do I wait until the cycle is done...?

 

[Diesel]

You need to cure the dryrock first for a week or two before putting it in your tank.
You can let the LR in your tank to seed the sand and after two weeks the dryrock.
You don't have to use a shrimp to cycle if you use the LR.
You can add some bacteria to the tank and a few drop depends on the tank size straight ammonia.

 

[saltsavage]

Are people literally dropped a raw shrimp in their tank just to feed the bacteria?

 

[Coastie Reefer]

Are people literally dropped a raw shrimp in their tank just to feed the bacteria?

Yup! That's exactly how I cycled my nano. For my frag tank I put dry rock in a 5 gallon bucket with a heater and a pump and dropped a shrimp in there too. It basically dissolves into nothing over the course of a couple weeks. The decay causes ammonia, and starts the cycle. You can seed with a small piece of live rock or some sand from another system or you can just wait. Seeding seems to reduce the cycle time by a week or two in my experience, but isn't necessary.

 

[Diesel]

Yes they do.
Or in the sump in your filter sock

 

[saltsavage]

So what happens if I put the dry rock and live rock right in the water without treating the dry rock first

 

[Coastie Reefer]

So what happens if I put the dry rock and live rock right in the water without treating the dry rock first

Depending on the rock and how clean it was, it may leach phosphates. If you have dry rock that was mined out of the ground (ancient coral reefs) you probably don't have anything to worry about. If you're using old live rock that has been dried you might wan't to soak it, but if you don't you may get a little algae that will go away over time. You could always run a little GFO to counter the phosphates too... All depends on how you want to go about it, there's no right or wrong really.

 

[cdubie32]

This is a great post that I had questions about to but this is answering! Something I saw on reef cleaners.org is they have snail packages and hermit packages, which explains what comes in each and their purpose. My question is, I had bad experience with snails in the past multiplying in freshwater tanks; how do you guys handle that issue in your saltwater aquarium?