adding clean up crew

[dadonoflaw]

tank has been up for 8 days. should wait till the cycle is tottally finished or can i add a few in another week or two as my lfs suggests? their recommendation sounds fishy ( no pun intended) so i came here first. also when i do add them what should i be getting of each and how many shrimps crabs snails and stars but what kinds how many? dsb is about 5 or 6 in. at its highest point and its a 125 gal tank.

[gwen_o_lyn]

Yes, you need to wait until the cycle is over. Inverts are very sensitive and changes in chemistry will easily kill them. I prefer to wait at least 6 weeks before I add a cleanup crew. After 6 weeks your cycle is most likely over and you start to dip into the tank maturity phase.

I like to have 1 snail and 1 hermit crab per gallon. I have nassarius, cerith and astrea snails. Standard blue legged hermits. Serpent stars are good to have. Please avoid fromia or linkia starfish (they are usually the pretty blue or red ones) since they starve in most reef setups.

[JayBeDriften]

I know I met get ridiculed for this but their is one species that I know of that can tolerate being thrown in a tank that is cycling. Hawiaan Zebra Hermits are extremely hardy and can even survive for extended periods of time in stagnant water. If you must have something in the tank while cycling I would suggest one of these. Their extremely beautiful.

[V]

Calcinus laevimanus

The Hawaiian Zebra Hermit, a.k.a. the Left Handed Hermit, is an algae eater and found along the rocky shorelines of Hawaii. Their legs are marked in black and white with the left claw being larger than the other. When retracted into its shell this large claw protects the opening of their shell. They are great scavengers and are voracious algae eaters


i had to look these guys up, there are so many crabs im losing touch with reality!
jk.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Just Kidding" class="inlineimg" />idden> im losing touch with myself instead..lol

[fat walrus]

I do not advise putting in any livestock during the cycle..............

However, I do not remember ever losing a Sally-Lightfoot crab. They are almost bulletproof.