Starting a CUC

[Bloodbuzz459]

Apologies if this is the wrong section - I wasn't sure where to put it.

My tank cycled over a week ago and on Friday I introduced two Percula Clownfish. I have checked my water every day sometimes twice a day and it has stayed steady at 8.3 pH, 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite & 0-5 Nitrate.

My tank has some brown algae and some green hair algae from the established rock I used to cycle. So my focus is turning to a CUC.

I'm passing my LFS on Friday and wondered if it might be okay to start? If so how many would be acceptable this soon?

Overall I was hoping to have a shrimp, hermits and snails. My tank is 80 litres and I don't plan to add any other fish than the clowns.

 

[Reincarnate]

For a tank that size 3-5 snails and maybe one hermit crab would be a good start. If they happen to survive the next couple weeks or so then you can add a shrimp or perhaps some other invertebrate that suits your fancy.

 

[Bloodbuzz459]

Thanks - is it unlikely they will survive? When you said "happen to survive" it doesn't sound good!

I'm not particularly in a rush if its likely to cause an issue I just happened to be passing the store on Friday and thought things might just be going well enough to put a few in.

Any recommendation on snails/hermits in particular?

I just wanted a standard cleaner shrimp.

 

[Reincarnate]

Being that your tank is still very new it's just not a stable environment yet. If something were to go wrong it could be catastrophic and wipe everything out. You definitely want to go slow right now. As far as which type of snail/hermit to add goes, Trochus snails and Scarlet Hermit crabs seem to be pretty popular. Those Trochus snails are absolute workhorses and the Scarlet Hermit crabs are not as aggressive as some of the other ones out there. The shrimp will be ok to add too, but an adult cleaner shrimp in that size tank can get into a lot of mischief IME. Stealing food, trampling over corals etc. The one I had was almost more trouble than it was worth.

 

[Bloodbuzz459]

Yeah I'm not sure how stable my tank is. It cycled very quickly as I used 6KG of established rock from a 7 year old tank and ever since its pretty much never changed the parameters. I thought the clowns may have a little spike or something but nothing (yet)

How many of each (hermit/snails) would you add now to be safe? Or should I abandon the idea for a few more weeks?

 

[Reincarnate]

You should be ok adding a few snails and a hermit crab now, but for a tank that size five snails and one hermit crab should be plenty IMO. Don't forget your the best janitor that tank will ever see. Use something like a Mag-Float to clean the glass, stir up or vacuum your sand bed on a regular basis etc. It's amazing what a little elbow grease can accomplish sometimes.

 

[Bloodbuzz459]

Yep got a mag float works well accept for the areas where rock is to close to the glass for it to squeeze in - maybe a tooth brush for these areas?

I will pick up 3 snails and a hermit tomorrow - hopefull they have some trochus snails. My only concern is my rock is stacked not glues or drilled so snails my send it tumbling there are no large pieces that could break the tank but at the top there are a couple of fist sized pieces.

 

[scooter31707]

Also with your tank being that new, it may not have enough in there for them to eat. You may have to feed them every now and then, until your tank matures more.

 

[Reincarnate]

Yep got a mag float works well accept for the areas where rock is to close to the glass for it to squeeze in - maybe a tooth brush for these areas?

I will pick up 3 snails and a hermit tomorrow - hopefull they have some trochus snails. My only concern is my rock is stacked not glues or drilled so snails my send it tumbling there are no large pieces that could break the tank but at the top there are a couple of fist sized pieces.

You can use an old credit card or a razor blade for those hard to reach areas up against the glass. Just be careful around the seams if you pick the latter of the two. Also, if you want to secure your rocks you could put a little epoxy in the joints. This should keep them from shifting too much.