when can i add invertebrates?

[unsped]

currently setup a 12 gallon nano cube with 11.5lbs uncured rock, 12.5 lbs of live sand.

 

im currently planning on letting it cycle for at least 3 weeks and having my levels checked before putting fish in. but im wondering how long before i can put any kind of crab, shrimp etc... in?

 

the LFS said i wouldn't have to wait the full cycle because they are pretty hearty, and i should add them if the tank starts getting funky before 3 weeks. any suggestions? obviously i want stuff to have the best chance, but an empty tank for 3 weeks+ is kinda sad

 

heck even a snail might spice it up.

[harbingerofthefish]

Go ahead and add a snail if it makes you feel good.

 

I'd say a few crabs once the dietrus starts.

 

Learn paitence now, you'll definatly need it later.

[rehren]

what is dietrus?

[harbingerofthefish]

Okay I goofed. What I ment was Diatoms.

 

Basically a good sign that your cycle is going good. It appears as a brown dusting usually across the sand bed, but sometimes on the glass and rock. It's just a sign that the biological filtration is beginning to establish itself. Carbs will eat this stuff and some snails will move through it too.

 

Deitrus is more of left overs from all the eating that is constantly going on in your tank. It appears as more ashy, greyish in color. Crabs will help spread this around so that it woun't build up and form more bad algaes to grow. Bumble Snails will chow on this. Increased flow thorughout the tank can help deter build up.

 

Do a search for Diatoms and you will get a lot of posts about this. Thus leading you around to a lot of very good info about the cycle and what to expect during the first couple of months.

 

A good search would be to find all the posts by ross76053.

 

He joined up here right about the same time I did. He asked a lot of very good questions, thus getting some great and very well written answers. I piggy-backed his posts and learned a lot from them.

 

When you start to add inverts, I would hold off on the Shrimp a while, IMO. They eat a lot more than crabs and snails, therefore produce a lot more waste.

 

By slowly adding in a clean up crew, you give the the no-see-um biological filtration time to build itself before beeing bombarded with excess waste, thus resulting in bad algae (hair, cyno, etc...)

[rehren]

great. thanks for the info, i'll start doing some searches now...

[Mermaid123]

In three weeks time during a cycle (depending on the quality of the rock and sand) your nitrites will more than likely be very high. Nitrites are much more toxic to inverts than ammonia. You may be better off waiting until both ammonia and nitrites are down to 0 before adding a clean up crew.

 

Val

[gargoyleexotics]

Nitrites are much more toxic to inverts than ammonia. You may be better off waiting until both ammonia and nitrites are down to 0 before adding a clean up crew.

 

Agreed!