Cycling a tank order of adding animals

[AC1211]

When should I begin to add my clean up crew during my cycle when it is done or a bit earlier?

 

[wesman42]

You don't want to add a clean up crew unless there's something to clean up. I'd recommend putting a fish or two into the tank before you put your clean up crew.

 

[Jvesche20]

I agree with wesman. CUC should be added when your tank is well established. Wait till the cycle is done and add something small. Maybe start with clowns that’s what I did for my first fish.

 

[AC1211]

I agree with wesman. CUC should be added when your tank is well established. Wait till the cycle is done and add something small. Maybe start with clowns that’s what I did for my first fish.

So if I add my clowns at 4 weeks in then add the beginnings of my clean up crew at 6 weeks is that good?

 

[AC1211]

You don't want to add a clean up crew unless there's something to clean up. I'd recommend putting a fish or two into the tank before you put your clean up crew.

Kinda irrelevent also but can I start a cycle by putting in a few pellets from my freshwater tank? Plus I will add a pair of clowns first then cuc 2 weeks after. Should it be longer than 2 weeks?

 

[wesman42]

Kinda irrelevent also but can I start a cycle by putting in a few pellets from my freshwater tank? Plus I will add a pair of clowns first then cuc 2 weeks after. Should it be longer than 2 weeks?

You could but you'd never know how much ammonia you're adding by doing that. I'd recommend starting with pure 100% ammonia dosed to 2ppm.

Hm, well you'll probably be fine with 2 weeks. I usually wait until I see algae appear...and it takes differing lengths of time for that to happen.

 

[AC1211]

You could but you'd never know how much ammonia you're adding by doing that. I'd recommend starting with pure 100% ammonia dosed to 2ppm.

Hm, well you'll probably be fine with 2 weeks. I usually wait until I see algae appear...and it takes differing lengths of time for that to happen.

Thank you I may just throw in a few and because I will be using a piece of live rock with mostly dry rock then I think it would work only 3 or 4 of the mini cichlid pellets because they are new but my fish kind of outgrew those and although they still eat it I have too much food so I thought I could just clear out an amount no matter how small.

 

[AC1211]

You could but you'd never know how much ammonia you're adding by doing that. I'd recommend starting with pure 100% ammonia dosed to 2ppm.

Hm, well you'll probably be fine with 2 weeks. I usually wait until I see algae appear...and it takes differing lengths of time for that to happen.

Also do I leave lights on during the cycle plus when do I start doing water changes?

 

[Barry_Cuda]

Also do I leave lights on during the cycle plus when do I start doing water changes?

Might as well leave the lights off until you have livestock in the tank. Lighting it during the cycle will just fuel algae growth.

 

[Sailingeric]

Don't rush. Wait until your tank has cycled then add a fish, a clown is good then you could add another every couple of weeks. Dont add crabs or snails until you have fish. Howg is your tank?

 

[Jvesche20]

This hobby isn’t something to rush. Once you learn patience then your tank will thrive. What I did is threw a raw piece of shrimp and let it sit in there while my tank cycled.

How big is your tank?

Also do I leave lights on during the cycle plus when do I start doing water changes?

Lights it doesn’t really matter since nothing is live in there. You can keep them off to save money or keep em on for 8-10 hrs depending on how long you want your lights on for. Only down side is theres a greater chance of algae to grow and nothing to eat the algae because you don’t have any fish that eat the algae such as tangs or a CUC.

So if I add my clowns at 4 weeks in then add the beginnings of my clean up crew at 6 weeks is that good?

Avg is 4 weeks some take longer. It depends on how you start the cycle. Just test for ammonia and when you see that go up then your nitrite and nitrate go up and back to 0 then that’s what your looking for. If there’s any ammonia then don’t add anything because it will just get worse.

I asked what size tank you have earlier because smaller tanks will have higher spikes when adding new fish. So if you have a 10g then you might only be able to add 1 clown but if you have 100g then you might be able to add 3-5 fish at once and never have ammonia jump up.

When I started I added 2 clowns then waited a month and added 3-4 more fish. Never had ammonia spike but I have 125 gal plus 40 gal sump so my tank was able to handle it.

CUC I would wait to make sure 100% that your levels are stable. You don’t wanna throw off some nutrients in your tank that’s when they will usually die. I added a CUC that consisted of a peppermint shrimp and a banded coral shrimp. I ended up killing both of them because my water wasn’t the best. I waited about 2 months after that to finally add a CUC.