how long before a blenny?

[jjj1100]

Hi everyone,

Just a quick question about blennies...i was thinking about picking up a lawnmower or other blenny and was wondering how long the live rock had to be up for. My live rock has been curing for 5 weeks, and there are a few small clumps of hair alagae on the rock.

I was just wondering when it would be safe to add him to the tank.

Thanks in advance

 

[Sk8r]

When your nitrates, nitrites and ammonia read 0,0,0, give it a week more to be sure all the hiccups are out of the system. But you can add your cleaning crew, and let them start to work. Add each fish a number of days apart, testing the water in between adding fish. Cycling is not a one-time thing: you go through a mini-cycle every time you add a fish, and the newer the tank, the more extreme the cycle. If your tank is good, it may not even be visible, but it will be happening on a microscopic level. The only exception is for paired fish or small schools.
In point of fact, you can probably add your blenny a week after the invertebrate cleaning crew sets up shop. If you do have any fatalities in the cleaning crew, stop, reassess, retest, and wait a while longer before adding.

 

[jjj1100]

thanks for the quick reply, the nitrities and ammonia are 0, there is a touch of nitrates, maybe 20 ppm. I can't do a clean up crew becuase i am going to have 2 eels in the future and some triggers. so whould this be to soon to add the blenny or should i still wait a touch?

 

[Sk8r]

Try to get those nitrates all the way down. Your tank is still a little unstable. The nitrates will hit 0. Put the blenny on in when they do, let him start to work, and keep testing. When everything is reliably back to 0,0,0 again, you can start looking at other fish. At this stage, don't rush. It's like testing a new bridge...venture out slowly and let the structure settle before bringing on the heavy trucks.

[I hope your lawnmower will be safe with the eels: I've never done that combination. They usually don't provoke aggression, though.]