StPatrick89
Well-Known Member
Bought two tangs yesterday. Put them in my QT. Realized I need a clean up crew for my main tank for when they transition over. Do you QT hermits, and cleaner shrimp?
Clean up crew...
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Ricksreeefs
Well-Known Member
How old is your tank? And what type of tangs? And no you don’t QT them.
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StPatrick89
Well-Known Member
QT tank has been up since Saturday. Blue hippo and sailfin. Idk what WT means
Ricksreeefs
Well-Known Member
Sorry meant to say QT not WT how old and big is your tank?
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StPatrick89
Well-Known Member
Oh, main tank is about a month old. Month and 3days
Ricksreeefs
Well-Known Member
Ok usually it’s best to wait a while before you should put tangs in to a tank like 6 months but it might be ok. Just make sure you add all your tangs at once. There’s a bunch of other discussions on r2r if you want to know more.
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StPatrick89
Well-Known Member
Got you, buuuuuuut what about a clean up crew?
Ricksreeefs
Well-Known Member
lol yeah you can just put them right into the tank you don’t QT them.
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StPatrick89
Well-Known Member
Lol great!!! Thanks, what are some inverts that really clean up? I’ve heard about the blue and red hermits, cleaner shrimp, blood fire shrimp...
tomboys
Active Member
Some people don't QT inverts, some people do. Inverts can still carry and transmit ich and velvet to your fish, even though they aren't affected by it themselves. They would have to be QT'd separately from the fish though if you plan to.
Ricksreeefs
Well-Known Member
Personally I like snails so like the Trochus, Bumblebee, Nassarius, sand sifting
counch and turbo snails. Fire shrimp are awesome and so are the cleaners. I don’t have many hermits but I’ve heard the get the job done well. Here’s a link that goes a little more in depth abt snails https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/best-in-shell-snails-for-the-reef-aquarium.660/
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StPatrick89
Well-Known Member
Thanks... how do you treat inverts that may transmit ich? Most meds aren’t invert safe.
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StPatrick89
Well-Known Member
Thanks a lot!!!
tomboys
Active Member
QT them in a tank with no fish, I've seen people say as little as 21 days and as much as 76 days. There's not really a definitive time period. Without fish to feed on, the ich just dies.
Sharkbait19
10K Club member
It depends on where you get the inverts. I only try to get inverts in a fishless "ich-free" system, but even then I know I'm running a big risk. Fish, coral, inverts, or even live rock have the potential to bring in something unwanted. Best thing you can do is find somewhere in which they already quarantine and isolate their inverts.
As far as a good cleanup crew goes, I like nassarius, trochus, and astrea snails. I like bumblebee snails but don't find them to add much in terms of cleanup. They're kinda lazy. Shrimp are good but need a really established tank IME, even more than LPS corals. Even in my seven month old tank, I still can't keep a cleaner shrimp for over a month, so I think they're harder than some give them credit for. I like emerald crabs for their personality, but wouldn't recommend one, unless you have a bubble algae outbreak. Back when I was a newbie, I got an emerald crab, and though he is a good algae eater, he is a menace to the whole tank. Brittle starfish are amazing, as they can reach into small holes in the live rock and pull out detritus. I loved mine so much but my emerald crab ripped him in half. Like I said, try to avoid emerald crabs if you don't need one. Hermits are also fun and incredibly helpful but like all crabs can be destructive in their efforts to clean things. Mine killed an entire clove polyp colony, simply because they walked all over them to clean the algae off. Crabs are crabs, they do what they gotta do...
As far as a good cleanup crew goes, I like nassarius, trochus, and astrea snails. I like bumblebee snails but don't find them to add much in terms of cleanup. They're kinda lazy. Shrimp are good but need a really established tank IME, even more than LPS corals. Even in my seven month old tank, I still can't keep a cleaner shrimp for over a month, so I think they're harder than some give them credit for. I like emerald crabs for their personality, but wouldn't recommend one, unless you have a bubble algae outbreak. Back when I was a newbie, I got an emerald crab, and though he is a good algae eater, he is a menace to the whole tank. Brittle starfish are amazing, as they can reach into small holes in the live rock and pull out detritus. I loved mine so much but my emerald crab ripped him in half. Like I said, try to avoid emerald crabs if you don't need one. Hermits are also fun and incredibly helpful but like all crabs can be destructive in their efforts to clean things. Mine killed an entire clove polyp colony, simply because they walked all over them to clean the algae off. Crabs are crabs, they do what they gotta do...
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StPatrick89
Well-Known Member
Thanks for this info
