What to do next? I think my tank is cycled...

What should I look at for a cleaning crew? I hear a lot of people say stay away from hermits, even the blue legged ones will get big enough to be destructive... I hear some ppl say the blue are fine... I hear all kinds of stuff. Im going out of town this weekend, having my aunt check up on the tank and feed them saturday and make sure my sump has water in it (its been holding steady for the last 2-3 days). Again, i wanna keep it reef safe, and I havent had any algae growing yet really, a few little spots on some live rock it looks like, but I dont wanna get a crew and have them starve. Id rather get it locally, like buying turbo snails, or small hermits, or whatever, instead of ordering a large bulk selection. Id rather get some depending on how much cleaning my tank needs... I saw a serpent star for sale for like 9.99$ on some clearance online, are they good cleaners? or no? My girlfriend really likes starfish, so if one could be incorporated she would be happy im sure.
 
Although I have blue legged hermits and they have never killed a snail for there shells.I personally think they are too wimpy.They are annoying as hell,instead of crawling around the corals,they like to crawl right over them.Let your algae guide you on what kind and how much cleanup crew to get.Try a variety of Astreas,Trochus,Mexican Turbos,Ceriths,Conches and Nassarius snails.There are other inverts that like emerald crabs and cleaner shrimps that make good additions when the time comes.

I don't like sea stars that clean the bed.IMO,they will consume all the pods,worms and other fauna in the sand bed.
 
I have hermit crabs but I wish I didn't. They are terrors. They kill my snails for their shells or just to kill them. I would stick with snails. Turbos are my favorite and the nassarius are good for cleaning the sandbed. I would only get a few at a time and add more if needed. Also love my brittle star.
 
Thanks guys! When I get back into town I might have to look into getting a few cleaners to start work on my tank. Are there any breed of brittle or serpent stars that you guys would reccomend? or is that a specific breed in itself? The ones the guy at the LFS has are gigantic! I would think too large and cumbersome for my tank. Otherwise ill check into a sand sifting star and maybe a few of each of the turbo snails and the nassarius snails to clean the bottom too.
 
It's looking to me like all the serpents and brittle stars hit sizes in excess of 1' I think I'll stick to smaller cleaners. I'm gunna head to bed, thanks for the prosperous day of advice and help again guys!
 
Yay Piggy! A sand sifting star will starve to death very quickly in your tank. The only serpent stars I've seen grow to a foot are the green ones, and those will eat fish. Don't buy one of those. The other brittle and serpent stars are perfect, don't be afraid to get one of those. They won't grow that big and are excellent cleaners.
 
I'm about to leave for the weekend, and i just realized what to do about my lights... I would go buy a timer quick, but they are the cheap hood lights where you have to push in the button on the back to get them to start up... so it wouldnt even work. Should i open the blinds in the other rooms and maybe leave the ones closed by the tank and just leave the lights off till sunday morning? or best to leav them on the whole time?
 
Those cheap timers will work with the your lights.Every light comes with and on/off button.Leave the lights on,set the timer,plug the light to the timer and off you go.
 
I have two timers, one for the actynics and one for the 10K. that way, I start off the day with blue, go full, go blue and then off. The corals seem to like it that way. I have heard that it is not good for corals to go from a dark tank to a fully lit one in one second.

Yes, get serpent stars. I have had them for two years and they haven't grown bigger than my hand (including the legs).

-Dr Marco :sfish:
 
Hey guys I'm back! I was too tired yesterday to sit online for long. All my fish are fine, nothing went wrong, so that good. Today I'm thinking about driving up to dr. fosters and smith to find some lights... how many watt T5's should I go with for my 50 gallon? (Its shorter than a 55, so easier penetration). It seems though that I can get 216 watt lights for relatively cheap (about 200$) and then there is a gap in the power and price all the way up to like 450-500 watts for 700+$... How much do you guys think I should go min. to keep most stuff? I'm not leaving till after 2:00 when my classes are done, So hopefully I can get on here and get in on some discussion during the day...
 
Also, I had a proud moment this weekend hunting with my dad on our land. Biff you might not want to look cause your a vegetarian and all... But, I got my first ruffed grouse shot in the air! Flying away from behind us at an angle and I got him from about 50 yards away! And our black lab, Lambeau, went and got him for me.













Aquarium146.jpg
 
Here is the dr foster and smith catalog they have a "Satellite Compact Flourescent Fixture" 48" 260 watts (4-65 watt) 2 lunar lights $212.49
That doesnt seem like a bad deal, but its not T5, its compact flourescent... And do these prices come with bulbs?? Because it doesnt say really. Also they have some coralife compact fluorescents 260 watt for 233.49. Otherwise for T5's they have 48" ones that are 216 watts with 4x54 watt bulbs. Otherwise they have a 432 watt for 400$... thats a little bit more than I wanted to pay really... I was thinking about 2-300 would be reasonable... but that would give me 8.64 watts/gallon... Should I go with some 260 watt compacts or 216 watt t5's? as they are very economically priced... or should I blow the extra 200$ and get the 432 watt beast with 8 bulbs?
 
If you buy compact fluorescents now, you will just be spending more money to upgrade in a few months. Go with the 216 watt T5s, you will be able to keep pretty much everything under them. IF you can afford it, the 432 watt T5s are better of course. But if you want to stay in your budget, pick the T5s.
 
Would I really be able to keep almost anything under those 216 watt T5's? If I know myself, and I hardly do, but I usually just keep buying until I get the best... Id like to skip that and go strait to the end if its really nescessary at all... What would I be able to keep alive in the 216's vs the 432's? I just wanna start with a few soft corals and maybe work my way up to some nicer stuff, so would it be essential to get the 432 watt t5's?
 
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