Monday, May 24, 2010

Saltwater tank- adding clean up crew in which order?

I am recieveing my clean up crew tomorrow it is

1 linkia starfish
10 nassarius snails
10 cerith snails
10 blue leg hermes
3 emerald hermits
1 coral banded shrimp


in which order should i add them, and in which manner...i was assuming i would set up 2 acclimation tanks and do the stargish and shrimp 1st (speratly of corse)

then to the 20 snails.and then her emeralsd/blues



so, for any of these can i just float em and add like 1/2 cup water every 20 minutes or somthing? thanks.
Answers:
You can aclimate the snails and crabs in the bags that they come in for 1 hour, Just pour about 2-3 oz. of your tank water into the bags every 10minutes for the hour. you wan't to at least double the water that was in the bags.
Put the animals in the tank.

The shrimp can be aclimated the same way BUT for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. DON"T BE SURPRISED if it blows it's claws off when you try to put it in the tank, This is a defence mechanism, they are very slow moving critters so they sometimes do that to lose some weight to move faster.LOL
The claws will grow back the next time they molt.
Some people say not to get a coral bandid shrimp(probably because they look mean) but I have always had 1 in all of my tanks. they are to slow to catch anything and usually hide until you feed the tank. AWSOME SHRIMP, BEAUTIFUL
My wife named one of ours Freddy Kruger.LOL
I aclimate starfish the same way but use less water at one time and aclimate it for AT LEAST 2 hours.
Try NOT to expose it to air when removing it from the bag.
I tilt the bag sideways and slide my hand under it and PLACE it in the tank.
You may want to get some Astraea snails to add to the crew, they do a great job of helping keep your glass and rocks clean, Looking at the amount of snails you are getting, I would add about 15 Astraea's (don't know the size of your tank.
The snails that you are getting will probably dissapear under your sand bed and you will hardly ever see them. (Astraea's don't do that)
A skunk Cleaner shrimp would also be VERY good for cleaning your fish and leftover food.
Also, some empty shells for the hermits would be good.
Some of these hermits and snails WILL die in your tank, you will have to add to the crew over time for loss and "crap" controle. (load in the tank)

The cleaner crew is not considdered as a load on the tank.
Depending on the size of your tank it looks like you are off to a great start.
idk but how many gallon is your tank
You can float and added water every 15 to 20 minutes for and hour or so..Check the salt and ph of the bag water and the water in your tank if they are close then accumulation time can be shortened.
You can add all that you named in any order and at the same time if you wont..It wont cause an over load on your tank.

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