Is it time for a clean up crew?

[jgvergo]

I got my tank running about 3 weeks ago. I used BioSpira to jump start the cycle. It seems to have worked. I put a couple of clown in two weeks ago and the tank parameters are looking good (Ammonia 0.1, Nitrites 0.05, Nitrates 2.0) and holding steady. The clowns look happy, healthy and eat well twice a day.

When I added the clowns I also put in a small piece of live rock to seed my dry rock scape. The entire tanks is starting to grow green hair algae. I just ordered some Chaeto for my sump, so that will hopefully help with nutrient control.

My question is "Is it premature to add a clean up crew at the point"?

 

[Jmas4]

Your tank isn't cycled completly there are ammonia and nitrite. I would watch the clowns anD make sure they are ok.( ammonia is deadly) I wouldn't put cuc yet as ammonia kills them faster then fish. Wait for ammonia to hit to 0 and nitite 0. Do a water change then you can add cuc

 

[melypr1985]

+1 Tank isn't cycled yet if it has ammonia and nitrite in it. Both are deadly. watch the fish.... heavy breathing, redness around the gills and lack of apatite are sure signs of trouble here. With fish in there already though, I would do frequent water changes to keep the toxins as diluted as possible until the tank is fully cycled. Add CUC when you no longer ready ammonia or nitrite.

 

[ScottMyers123]

Watch the clowns very closely, if you see any heavy breathing or abnormal movement please remove them. Sounds like the tank has not fully cycled yet. Any amount of ammonia is deadly to your fish.

 

[jgvergo]

I measured the ammonia this morning and it is o.o. Honestly, it was probably zero for the last few days. It's hard to tell the difference with the test kit. Nevertheless, I will err on the side of caution and measure every day until I get 3 consecutive days of zero before doing a water change and adding anything else. Thanks everyone.

Since we are on the topic of cucs, what do you recommend for my budding green hair algae?

 

[melypr1985]

Since we are on the topic of cucs, what do you recommend for my budding green hair algae?

Hermits= red leg, blue leg, scarlet- doesn't seem to matter. If I have anything with hair algae on it I drop it into the Invert system with the hermits and it's clean the next day. They do a pretty good job and quickly, but if you only have a few in a large tank, you'll never notice

 

[jgvergo]

Hermits= red leg, blue leg, scarlet- doesn't seem to matter. If I have anything with hair algae on it I drop it into the Invert system with the hermits and it's clean the next day. They do a pretty good job and quickly, but if you only have a few in a large tank, you'll never notice

Can hermits climb out of the tank?

 

[melypr1985]

Can hermits climb out of the tank?

I had one try once. It didn't make it far. I've never heard of them climbing out... snail however - I've seen that many times.

There he is trying to climb up the silicon on the corner of a 40 gallon.