What should I add first ? Clean up Crew /Fish or wait longer

[David J]

Hey guys I started cycling my tank 1/10 this year. Its a 25 Gal Lagoon tank by Innovative Marine. I have been testing every 2 days my Temps, Salinity,Nitrite and Ammonia level. Tonight I'm going to test for Nitrate as I didn't see the point of testing right away. My ammonia level 2 days ago was pretty close to 0, My test last nights were 0. Nitrites were 5.0- 4.0 last time and I think last night were around 1.0 - 2.0. I'll confirm tonight what my Nitrate levels are but I would suspect they are not 0.

I started with some live sand and also added in a bottle of Dr Tims with ammonia. If my nitrites continue to drop down and eventually become 0 ? When do I add some live stock and should I start with clean up crew first or a fish ?

When I do my water change I will be changing out my pump and tomorrow installing a ATK.

Also when do I start to turn my lights on. So far I only turned them on once a week for 5-10 minutes when I was cleaning the glass or testing ect.

Also am I better off waiting until the full cycle of algae before adding anything.

 

[sbash]

Once the nitrogen cycle is established (or completed as some would say), your nitrites should stay at zero along with your ammonia. Nitrates will go up a bit (or a lot).

In regards to a clean up crew, I take a reactive approach, not a proactive one. This means I add CUC based on the tanks needs. In your case, if there is nothing to clean up, the CUC will simply die off. Hermits are good at surviving, so that would be a good place to start. Just add a couple.

I would also jump right in and add a hardy fish, lots of people start with clowns for just this reason.

But, wait until ammonia and nitrites stay at zero. Start adding small amounts of food and keep testing daily. With a marine aquarium, you are always better waiting.

Turn your lights on whenever you want, this will kick off other mini-cycle type events as your tank starts to mature.

 

[David J]

Ok so maybe I'll look to get a pair of clowns to start with. Aiming for a water change next weekend if my nitrates drop. I may start to test daily next week just to monitor things more closely.

 

[PatW]

Clean up crews need something to clean up or they starve.

Clean up crews come in grazers.... eat algae. Detritovores eat left over food. Sand stirrers who clean sand and so on.

I am not fond of hermits. They are multifunctional. But they kill and eat snails. If they are hungry, they tend to eat things that you might not want. Snails are more civilized but they will starve if there is not enough if the right kind of algae for them.

I suggest waiting until you start getting algae for snails to graze on.

 

[Katrina71]

I cycled with my lights on. I had a very short "ugly" phase.

 

[lapin]

Hey guys I started cycling my tank 1/10 this year. Its a 25 Gal Lagoon tank by Innovative Marine. I have been testing every 2 days my Temps, Salinity,Nitrite and Ammonia level. Tonight I'm going to test for Nitrate as I didn't see the point of testing right away. My ammonia level 2 days ago was pretty close to 0, My test last nights were 0. Nitrites were 5.0- 4.0 last time and I think last night were around 1.0 - 2.0. I'll confirm tonight what my Nitrate levels are but I would suspect they are not 0.
I started with some live sand and also added in a bottle of Dr Tims with ammonia. If my nitrites continue to drop down and eventually become 0 ?

What you want to do is dose ammonia up to 1 to 2ppm. When your tank can process that in 24 hours, then you test for nitrite. Once nitrite is 0 you are good to go. Nitrite converting bacteria take longer to grow than the Ammonia converting type.

When do I add some live stock and should I start with clean up crew first or a fish ?

Fish first unless you have green algae for the cleanup crew to eat. Snails are the best things to add at first. There are many types. Each type feeds on different surfaces. Some on rock some in the sand and some on the glass.

When I do my water change I will be changing out my pump and tomorrow installing a ATK.

Test for nitrates after the nitrate is gone. Change enough water so you start with low nitrates. The 5ppm range is a good place to start. No need to feed the algae to much food.

Also when do I start to turn my lights on. So far I only turned them on once a week for 5-10 minutes when I was cleaning the glass or testing ect.

You can turn them on at any time. Algae and corals need light. Fish not so much. The lights will cause algae to grow and your tank will go thru some ugly stages. Hard to avoid this. When it happens not to worry.

Also am I better off waiting until the full cycle of algae before adding anything.

There are some opinions on what is best. I feel that the longer you wait before adding fish and coral the better. After the diatom bloom, I seed my tanks with pods and feed phyto. Once I see them thriving and some green is starting to cover stuff I add snails. Then its time for fish and coral.
Some will say waiting 3 to 6 months is ideal. Can anyone sit and wait that long staring at an empty box of water? Not me.....

Enjoy your new tank. and be sure to upload a few pictures along the way. Not just the good stuff but ugly stuff too.