Clean up crew

[lthompson714]

I am new to salt water aquariums. I recently set up a 55 gallon tank two weeks ago. I presently have 5 damsels and live rock. When should I add a clean up crew? What type of animals would be best?
Thanks,
Lisa

 

[entice59]

once you see some algae growth, a couple of turbo snails or scarlet hermit crabs would be decent. As for how many, i would add 5 of each. Do not get blue legged hermits because they are known to kill snails and steal shells from other hermits.

 

[jerseysaltwater]

welcome to the hobby. usually a tank hasn't cycled completely in the 2 weeks you say yours has been up. when a bioload is added (in this case, your damsels), the ammonia levels in new saltwater will spike (sometimes to toxic levels, though damsels have been known to be hearty enough to survive the spike). "Good" bacteria will form to convert ammonia to nitrites, which are also dangerous / toxic. Yet another type of "good" bacteria converts the nitrites to relatively harmless nitrates (in low levels, generally <20 ppm). Suring the 3rd leg of the cycle, you will see diatoms (brown algae) form throughout the tank. They will subside when the cycle has completed. Look for new algae growth after this, and then a cleaner crew will have something to live on. HTH - eddie