what to use for cleaning crew

[troy1976]

hi i am new to the sw world of aquariums i just recently bought a 29 gal aquarium with about 25 lbs of live rock and about 5 lbs of base rock also i got a 20 lb bag of dry sand only to buy another 10 lb bag of live a day later i was just wondering what type of cleaning crew i should be looking for, i know snails and hemit crabs but that is about all i know and the types i also dont know. i am looking to have fish and corals in the tank.another question i have is the hang on back type of filters, are they good enough. the filter, i cant remember the type, but it came with the tank on one those deals at walmart.

[coachfraley]

You will want to add a powerhead along with the HOB filter, to increase the flow in the tank. You do not use traditional FW media in a SW setup. You can use the carbon, but you will want to ditch any bioballs, and sponges will need to be cleaned at least every 3 days or so.

In the future, you might want to consider adding a sump/refugium to your setup, or using a hang on back refugium and/or a hang on back skimmer.

Some popular snails are turbos, astreas, and nassarius. Small hermits are good, and some people like emerald crabs (although they can be hit or miss).

I can't say this enough, but you will probably want to read up on some good SW books. I got mine from the library and I don't recall the names, but I am sure someone can suggest good ones.

Oh...and welcome to the forum!

[troy1976]

yes i forgot about the power head i have a little one now but am going to get another bigger one to add along with it. and the filter has a carbon insert and a black plastic sponge could i just remove that or should i leave it in and clean frequently like you say. after i add the CUC how long should i wait until i add fish someone told me that it would be alright to add a starter fish right away to aid in the cycling of the tank, but was not sure so i didnt.

oh... thanks for the welcome and the reply, i will probably be on here quite a bit, i have found some very useful info on here

[Rue]

You really should get a decent skimmer - from all I've read and discussed, it - along with LR made reef keeping even possible for the 'average' owner. I have one in my frag tank, and I'm not expecting a high bioload in there.

The sponge is for mechanical filtration. Given how much tank crud mine collects, I think it's important to have one somewhere to filter the water, and to rinse it out every 2-3 days (so that the tank crud doesn't decay and reduce water quality).

Your live rock will serve as your biological filtration. The sponge will too, of course, but what it does is minor compared to the rock, so just think of the sponge as mechanical in this case.

Most SW owners do run carbon. It keeps the water clearer and more pure.

Wait about 2 weeks after adding the CUC. Test your water. If the parameters are good, add fish. Don't forget that SW has a lower carrying capacity than FW, so your 30 g tank will only hold 3-4 fish.