stocking question

[Melina]

Hey guys,
My 65g is a month old. I have a 20g sump. The live rock I purchased was very well established and my cycle was very short. I never had an ammonia or nitrite spike. Right now these are my parameters:
NH3/4 = 0
N02=0
NO3= <5

I am using RO/DI water only. I have quite a bit of green filamentous algae growing in the tank. No livestock yet.

Here's my question. Is it OK to add all these things within a couple days of each other?
24 blue legged hermits
5 scarlet hermits
9 astrea snails
9 turbo snails
9 cerith snails
2 cleaner shrimp
1 tuxedo urchin
2 clownfish
6 coral frags (frogspawn, torch, candycane, hammer, green star polyps, montipora digitata)

I live far away from any decent saltwater LFS and have to have live goods shipped to me by air, which is expensive. They are shipping the start of my clean up crew & other livestock next Tuesday (the crabs, snails, urchin, shrimp & fish). Now there's a fellow reefer in a town 2 hours away from me who is willing to sell me some frags and wants to get together the following day, Wednesday. I'm wondering if adding all this stuff to my tank at once will be too much, or should it be OK?
Thanks!

[ron101]

Hard to say, spikes and their effects are difficult to predict...

How long has your tank been running with just the live rock? Problem is that although your tank has cycled, it has cycled to the bioload of an empty tank. To prepare a system for a significant bioload increase you need to provide it with a source of ammonia to propagate nitrifying bacteria.

Clowns are really hardy. I would think that a small pair would be ok. Not sure about the inverts. Speaking of inverts, I do not subscribe to the large clean up crew philosophy. It only increases the bioload, is irrelevant if you don't overfeed, and consequently is an unnecessary expense. IMO you could drop the turbos and the blue legs and it would still be plenty.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

I agree with Ron. I'd get a much smaller clean-up crew. First on my list to go would be the hermit crabs! They can be kind of fun to watch, but can also be quite meddlesome...especially when they get bigger

I would think you could add the frags and clowns at the same time, no problem...assuming your cycling is over.

[Melina]

My tank has been up and running with the live rock for exactly one month.
The reason I want the crabs is because I've got an algae problem... I want this green filamentous algae GONE... but maybe if I get the urchin I don't need them?

[ron101]

Even if the hermits do go to work on the algae, they probably won't be a long term solution. They usually kill each other off till there are an ineffectual few left. Then the algae just comes back.

I've never had an urchin but if it has a taste for algae, it is probably a better long term solution. Maybe plan for one or more herbivore fish to be added down the road.

Also keep in mind that your tank is relatively new. Several months from now it will have stabilized more and you will have a better idea of how much algae it will grow and you can change your approach accordingly (more skimming, refugium w/macro algae, new critters, etc)

[Salmon King]

when you mix crabs and snails the crab always wins.I would go with one or the other.Save you money in the long run.As for everything else should be no problem.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I think that your cleanup crew wish list is too big as well. That many hermit crabs will make short work of your snails once they become hungry or need to change their shell/homes.

Anthony

[Scavenger]

Originally Posted by SeaHorse_Fanatic

I think that your cleanup crew wish list is too big as well. That many hermit crabs will make short work of your snails once they become hungry or need to change their shell/homes.

Anthony

I second SeaHorse Fanatic here. I would personally add the cleanup crew as you need them. Start small with a basic crew and add for what you need cleaned up. (Keeping in mind, what they would eat once they've delt with the problem) It's a balancing act to be sure.

[skylord]

A large cleanup crew isn't needed. In a couple of weeks when your algae problems subside they will either kill each other for food or just starve to death. Finding the correct balance takes time and in my opinion it is better to err on the side of your crews health/lives. I think I would drop the hermits and the urchin. This urchin really needs good water quality and in a new tank that can be hard to maintain. If you are going with a sand bed you might want to look at Nassarius Snails, less destructive than hermits and lots of fun to watch.

Scott

[scuglass]

Scrap the crabs.. they end up killing all your snails and have a knack for nocking over every frag.... no matter where you put it!