Week seven cycling my tank

[Michael v]

It’s going pretty good. The ammonia is at zero nitrite is zero and nitrate is holding about twenty. I’ve made a twenty percent water change. My salinity is 1.025 the temperature is staying around 79 degrees. I haven’t had any Algae or detritus growth. My question is should I get my clean up crew ? I don’t want them to starve. I’m going to look at getting fish but I want to quarantine them before I introduce them to my display tank. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Reefer5640]

Hey there Mike! I’m from Utah as well, Eagle Mt area. What do you mean by quarantine your clean up crew exactly? You’re right to hold off until there is food for them.

 

[Michael v]

Hey there Mike! I’m from Utah as well, Eagle Mt area. What do you mean by quarantine your clean up crew exactly? You’re right to hold off until there is food for them.

Thanks for the reply. From what I’ve heard it’s a big gamble not to quarantine what you put in your tank. I was thinking I would get a few hermit crabs and snails to help my tank mature before adding fish. I’ve got a 10 gallon tank set up as a quarantine tank. I thought I would get a couple fish and quarantine them for about four weeks. Hopefully my rock will have enough bacteria to handle the fish and eventually coral. I got a long way to go and a lot to learn.

 

[Reefer5640]

So are you just setting them aside for a week or two as an observation period or are you going to treat them with some kind of medication or method?

 

[Michael v]

So are you just setting them aside for a week or two as an observation period or are you going to treat them with some kind of medication or method?

Yes

 

[Tankzombie]

If you want to qt your clean up crew you will have to do it for 76 days in a fish less environment.

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/how-to-quarantine-coral-and-inverts.228/

 

[Michael v]

If you want to qt your clean up crew you will have to do it for 76 days in a fish less environment.

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/how-to-quarantine-coral-and-inverts.228/

Thank you you’re right. Bottom line I need to be patient one of the golden rules to this hobby. Rushing results could bring heartache. Thanks for the realty check.

 

[PDR]

Another option could be to get a cuc and let the tank mature for another 76 days before adding fish. That way you don't have to qt them separately and you could let a lot of the "ugly phase" of the tank pass.

 

[Michael v]

Another option could be to get a cuc and let the tank mature for another 76 days before adding fish. That way you don't have to qt them separately and you could let a lot of the "ugly phase" of the tank pass.

That’s a great idea. By time the 76 days the threat from ick will be gone. I can quarantine a couple small fish at the same time. Thanks for your help I really appreciate it.