Are my cuc doing their job?

[MikeLipyeat]

Hi. I have a fairly new 40gallon tank, 2 clownfish, 2 cleaner shrimp, 2 turbo snails and 2 hermit crabs... im feeding once a day to keep my ammonia levels down atm. But there seems to be a lot of clownfish poop on the sand... arent the cuc meant to help with this? I have attached a pic of the black poos on my sand lol

 

[MikeLipyeat]

Poop

 

[Reefing Madness]

Not enough CUC for that.
Flow in the tank should also suspend that in the water until your skimmer can get ahold of it.
But if you wanted a CUC that would take care of it, you'd need another 30 snails and another 30 hermits.

 

[MikeLipyeat]

Would i be best using a gravel vac? Or buyin a couple more crabs? What do my cleaner shrimp eat?

 

[KoleTang]

You should not ever see ammonia levels unless your tank is cycling. Don't add more Invertebrates because they are intolerant of ammonia.

You need more flow to keep waste from settling.

 

[glb]

I'd do frequent water changes until the ammonia cycles away. That will help cycle the tank.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Would i be best using a gravel vac? Or buyin a couple more crabs? What do my cleaner shrimp eat?

You could use a vacuum for that, but at some point it will be very difficult to get at.
Cleaner Shrimp are scavengers, they'll eat anything. More crabs would also be a wise choice. In a 40g you are going to need quite a few.

 

[MikeLipyeat]

Thanks mate. The first person to actually answer the question i asked lol. I will wait for my cycle to fully finish and get a few more crabs and shrimp

 

[Reefing Madness]

 

[MikeLipyeat]

I usually just get lectured about how im a fish killer for cycling wity 2 clowns in

 

[Reefing Madness]

Just need to watch the water params, they should be fine, unless the Ammonia gets really high. Its been done many times before, no need for a lecture. :bigsmile:

 

[MikeLipyeat]

Im testing them daily and keepin a very close eye ony fishes behaviour etc..... the ammonium is 1.0ppm and nitrate rising now to 0.5ppm.

 

[twelvefive]

Im testing them daily and keepin a very close eye ony fishes behaviour etc..... the ammonium is 1.0ppm and nitrate rising now to 0.5ppm.

That's progress.

I would get about 20-30 Nassarius snails. They eat anything on the sand, and they bury themselves in the sand so they also turn over the sand which helps prevent toxins from building up in the sandbed.

 

[MikeLipyeat]

Do they live ok with hermit crabs and turbo snails and cleaner shrimp?

 

[808jaymakoa]

My 55 gallon has one sea hare for algae, 5 turbo snails and like 15 hermits a red fire shrimp, a purple lobster and a emerald crab. It does the job for me. I have alot of flow as well. As everyone else says u probably need more which I was told as well but I didn't want to go overboard with all the snails and crabs which is probably the recommended amount as some have said above

 

[mcarroll]

Careful adding cleanup crew at the rates being mentioned. Those numbers are very liberal and I would be much more conservative. At those rates starvation will follow once the cleanup is done. Your Turbos are already at risk in a tank that clean and that small - yours are tiny babies (they get up to tennis ball size) and they need a ton of algae to thrive. You will find they eventually weaken and fall prey to your hermit(s).

I would have no more than 4-5 hermits (1 or 0 is fine) in that tank and a similar number of SMALL snails for algae. Ceriths and Nerites are favorites since they will do double duty on the algae as well as the sand. Similar number or less for Nassarius if you don't go with Ceriths. Only grow these numbers as conditions in the tank warrant - and remember that poop or algae in the tank means something is being over-done (too much food or livestock) or the maintenance routine needs a boost. Look to the former first IMO.

More flow (as was also suggested) is the correct answer to your problem. If the poop can sink then someday, sooner or later, you'll have a big problem. Boost the flow and you may not have to change anything else - no more mouths to feed.

BTW, I think the only theoretical problem with cycling with clowns would be if you didn't really want them and simply got them because they were cheap and hardy. This used to be "the way", using Damselfish, and you will occasionally hear of someone doing it... Doubtful this is the case with you and your clowns.

Hope this helps!

-Matt

 

[MikeLipyeat]

Thanks matt. That was really helpful so thank u for taking the time to help me out yeah. I got xlowns coz my little boy loves finding nemo so they werent just for cyclong purposes. I think my cycle is going ok as it been 2 weeks and my ammonium is 0.5ppm and over tye last 2 days my nitrite has risen to 0.6ppm. I think this is good right?

 

[twelvefive]

Thanks matt. That was really helpful so thank u for taking the time to help me out yeah. I got xlowns coz my little boy loves finding nemo so they werent just for cyclong purposes. I think my cycle is going ok as it been 2 weeks and my ammonium is 0.5ppm and over tye last 2 days my nitrite has risen to 0.6ppm. I think this is good right?

Rising nitrate and falling ammonia means the bacteria is becoming established and processing the ammonia into nitrate, so yes.

 

[MikeLipyeat]

Well the ammonia doesnt seem to be falling yet? Thats why im a bit confused.

 

[peterthegamer]

Give it a few days. If you are really worried about it add a reactor. If you could add any fish I would add a diamond goby to clean up the sand.