CUC questions

[jimmy40741]

Well my tank has been up for 5 weeks tomorrow, and it looks like my nitrites are finally coming down. Two days ago they were at .5 ppm, and this afternoon they were down to .25 ppm. So hopefully I will be done cycling soon.
The first thing I want to add to my tank is a clean up crew. Honestly I am more excited about having these little critters scurring around the sides and bottom of my tank than I am about having fish. LOL Anyway, I was wondering if I should wait until I have a large algea bloom before I order the CUC or if I could go ahead and get one once my cycle is done. Also, I noticed from reading about the different kind of inverts in the CUC package that they will consume different types of algea, and I was wondering if I could sustidize their diet with the algea waffers that I use to help feed the plecos in my freshwater tanks.

 

[m0nk]

Originally Posted by Jimmy40741
http:///forum/post/2462942
Well my tank has been up for 5 weeks tomorrow, and it looks like my nitrites are finally coming down. Two days ago they were at .5 ppm, and this afternoon they were down to .25 ppm. So hopefully I will be done cycling soon.
The first thing I want to add to my tank is a clean up crew. Honestly I am more excited about having these little critters scurring around the sides and bottom of my tank than I am about having fish. LOL Anyway, I was wondering if I should wait until I have a large algea bloom before I order the CUC or if I could go ahead and get one once my cycle is done. Also, I noticed from reading about the different kind of inverts in the CUC package that they will consume different types of algea, and I was wondering if I could sustidize their diet with the algea waffers that I use to help feed the plecos in my freshwater tanks.
You should ghost feed for a couple days after the cycle is complete, just to make sure that you won't get an ammonia spike. Doing this will also spark a small algae bloom. Then add your cleanup crew after a couple days with no ammonia spikes. When you add your cleanup crew you can keep ghost feeding and they'll eat some of that too. They'll need to eat something, otherwise they'll starve.

 

[jimmy40741]

Originally Posted by m0nk
http:///forum/post/2462950
You should ghost feed for a couple days after the cycle is complete, just to make sure that you won't get an ammonia spike. Doing this will also spark a small algae bloom. Then add your cleanup crew after a couple days with no ammonia spikes. When you add your cleanup crew you can keep ghost feeding and they'll eat some of that too. They'll need to eat something, otherwise they'll starve.

Well I have already had my ammonia spike, and it dropped to 0 ppm 3 weeks ago. Will I get another one once the cycle is over? Also, I don't think I need to ghost feed the tank because I am cycling it with mollies. So I am already feeding them.

 

[m0nk]

Originally Posted by Jimmy40741
http:///forum/post/2462958
Well I have already had my ammonia spike, and it dropped to 0 ppm 3 weeks ago. Will I get another one once the cycle is over? Also, I don't think I need to ghost feed the tank because I am cycling it with mollies. So I am already feeding them.
Well, I wouldn't have cycled with fish, that's a pretty cruel and outdated method, but at this point it's already too late since the ammonia is what's mostly toxic to them. If you were cycling by a more common method, you would ghost feed just to be sure you got enough beneficial bacteria built-up to be sure it could break down the food before it breaks down into ammonia on it's own. That's how you know you can support fish, but since you already have fish in there then it doesn't really help.