m.h2176

when is a good time to put the clean up crew in the tank? During or after cycling?

chadf

After the cycle, wait a week after 0 nitrites and ammonia and then add them. They are actually more sensitive than fish are.

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My 90 gallon reef

Striped bristletooth tang, Coral beauty angelfish, Royal gramma, 2 Occelleris clownfish, Lyretail anthias, Tongue coral, Green frogspawn, Palythoa colony, Orange and green ricordeas, Green striped mushrooms, Crocea clam, About 40 snails of 11 different species, Sand sifting starfish, Emerald crab, 130 lbs live rock, 240 lbs live sand

Abbey

i understand that inverts. cant live in a tank with high levels of copper, but i made a huge stupid mistake and added copper almost a year ago. with weekly water changes and adding some special filter media i have recently added 2 hermit crabs both rather small. i added one as an expirement to see if they would live. i wanted to add snails bbut my lfs was currently out. i am wondering if snails would be more sensitive to the copper than the hermits.
unfortunately i am not possitive on the amount of copper i believe it there is 0.05 ppm
it is a big job cleaning the glass w/o the snails even though i have a
mag-float cleaner but the algea on my rock is starting to really build up since i was gone on vacation. i am really hoping for some snails.

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THERE IS A TIME FOR EVERYTHING

m.h2176

Ok. So I just want to make sure I have this straight. Going to start cycling a 55 gal. tank. First, I'm going to mix and put saltwater in the tank. Next, I'm going to add 210 lbs. of live sand so I can achieve a 4" DSB. Then, I'm going to add 90 lbs. of live rock. I'm going to turn on my powerheads, and filter (emporer 400) and let everything sit until the ammonia and nitrite reach zero and then add a cleaning crew. Does that sound correct? Will live sand create enough ammonia to cycle a tank or should I through in a cocktail shrimp or 2?

chadf

You'll have plenty of waste from your rock and sand to cycle your tank. You got it just let it sit and test your water. Everything's good in your plan, but one thing I'd like to add is start your weekly or biweekly 10-20% water changes once your water tests 0 ammonia and nitrite.

Keep us posted on your test results if you'd like, I'm interested in cycles!

Also, keep an eye on your filter media after starting it up intitally. It tends to block up from clearing up the sandstorm.

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My 90 gallon reef

Striped bristletooth tang, Coral beauty angelfish, Royal gramma, 2 Occelleris clownfish, Lyretail anthias, Tongue coral, Green frogspawn, Palythoa colony, Orange and green ricordeas, Green striped mushrooms, Crocea clam, About 40 snails of 11 different species, Sand sifting starfish, Emerald crab, 130 lbs live rock, 240 lbs live sand