cycling on the way!!

[peg]

after 20 some days into my cycle i am seeing alittle nitrites. i know i will need a clean up crew and i was wondering on selection. i want them to be friendly when i add my fish. thanks

 

[fshhub]

a friendly clean up crew, some stars(linkias in particular), plenty of snails(varied species) and some shrimp, i like cleaner shrimp andmaybe a coral banded(but do not mix him wiht other shrimp, they are known to be very aggressive towards other shrimp, normally to a leathal degree)

 

[peg]

thanks for all the advice!!

 

[peg]

ps what about some crabs? or are the not to friendly?

 

[fshhub]

some are, some aren't and most have the potential to not be, but hte frienliest is clawless, and if you are referring to hermits, same again, the potential is here, and i tend to believe(form various other testimonies) that they are much less effective than some snails
HTH

 

[dizzy]

SWF.com has some great deals on Cleanup Crews. I would suggest holding off on the linkia stars for a while. They tend to be not nearly as hardy as, say, a brittle or sand star. It all depends on the size of your tank, on how much you buy.
It also depends on how much algae you have growing in your tank now. Being a new tank, there may not be enough to feed a large crew. You might need to supplement the diets of the inverts if the algae population is low.
I have a 29 gal and after about 3 weeks was able to put in 10 scarlet hermits, 10 turbo snails, 3 peppermint, 1 camel back, 1 coral banded, and 1 cleaner shrimp. I also have an emerald crab in there. Another species you could throw in would be feather dusters. They are very hardy and have all done very well when I put them with the cleanup crew. They look very good in the tank when you are at a time when there is very little movement (no fish).
Diz

 

[fshhub]

sorry, i wasn't thinking about the age of your tank, when i mentioned linkias, they are good substrate cleaners, but neeed a mature and stable system, definitely like dizzy said, wait on them