Sk8r
07/29/2014, 09:40 AM
A cleanup crew is NOT supposed to eat all the algae and restore your tank to pristine white. It will never be pristine white again, if healthy.
A cleanup crew IS supposed to nosh on stuff, with the addition of a few flakes of fish food, and poo gentle vegetarian stuff into the sandbed to help its bacteria sort out, establish layers, and multiply like rabbits in high clover.
This process takes a convenient 4 weeks. Quarantine your first fish for 4 weeks, letting him get calmed down, used to you feeding him, and being SURE he doesn't bring passengers into your tank (4 weeks, after the stress of being bagged and moved will generally cause him to break out in spots if he's going to) Most things that prey on fish reproduce in the sandbed. Your qt should NOT have a sandbed if you plan to use it again. A bare tank, and by my preference, a plain uncycled tank with a filter you change often and gear you can clean absolutely---and 4 weeks---will assure the fish you put into your carefully prepared tank is not bringing microscopic passengers in via his gills, and is not bringing disease bacteria either.
I also advise that this first fish NOT be a particularly aggressive type, or he will claim the whole tank and resent any fish you put in later. 4 weeks per fish, or pair or set of fish. Put your most aggressive fish in last, so he comes in with a properly humble attitude and behaves well.
A cleanup crew IS supposed to nosh on stuff, with the addition of a few flakes of fish food, and poo gentle vegetarian stuff into the sandbed to help its bacteria sort out, establish layers, and multiply like rabbits in high clover.
This process takes a convenient 4 weeks. Quarantine your first fish for 4 weeks, letting him get calmed down, used to you feeding him, and being SURE he doesn't bring passengers into your tank (4 weeks, after the stress of being bagged and moved will generally cause him to break out in spots if he's going to) Most things that prey on fish reproduce in the sandbed. Your qt should NOT have a sandbed if you plan to use it again. A bare tank, and by my preference, a plain uncycled tank with a filter you change often and gear you can clean absolutely---and 4 weeks---will assure the fish you put into your carefully prepared tank is not bringing microscopic passengers in via his gills, and is not bringing disease bacteria either.
I also advise that this first fish NOT be a particularly aggressive type, or he will claim the whole tank and resent any fish you put in later. 4 weeks per fish, or pair or set of fish. Put your most aggressive fish in last, so he comes in with a properly humble attitude and behaves well.