adding livestock???

my nitrate is still a little on the high side its no less then 40 but no higher then 80, can't get the exact number. I would like to add some cleaners to the tank; snails, crabs, maybe a shrimp. I am getting brown algae on the glass and need some little critter to clean it off. my big hermit Mr crabs is still doing great, changing shells 2 times a day but he just can't climb up the glass ;D. Do you think it would be safe to add some more cleaners???

 

What test kit are you using? It sounds like you're using a dipstick...which you can quite frankly through in the trash (or let your 7 year old test her koolaid for fun...which is what I did with mine).

As for adding livestock...I defer to the experts but I will tell you that a still cycling tank can kill all your snails. Learned that the hard way!

 

I am using the dipstick, but i have the add 10 drop of this and that test kit. I will dig it out and test with that see if theres a difference. I started off with a full cycled tank but having a snowflake ruined the tank and the nitrate got into the 200's so i broke it down cleaned everything did a couple water changes, so i threw it into another cycle but was hoping it wouldn't take 7months to 0 out.

 

if your hermit is changing shells two times a day, then there is something wrong in the water. You really need better test kits .......... what's your SG at?

 

can you tell us a little more about your set up?

 

SG is 1.021, got a rect to test that. I have a 30gal tank, with probably a 10gal sump with a bak pak skimmer. the crab is just changing from his shell to another then back into his old shell. really funny.

 

and this tank has been running for seven months? how much lr and ls do you have?

 

might be funny to watch and hermits are really hardy, but if he's changing that often it means there is something irritating him. IMO you need to raise your SG to atleast 1.023 yes even with just fish. I just think 1.019-1.021 is just too low. I think it makes the fish work too hard to swim and float when it's low, which in turn stresses them, which in turn is one cause of ich.

Have you done a water change lately and how much?

what kind of filtration do you have also?

do you have a bio wheel or bio balls?

 

My crabs lived in really high nitrate (80 to 100) and low SG (1.020) for awhile with no ill effects (two different kinds). Don't get me wrong....I agree with cuttingras, it needs to be higher. Now I am at 1.026. What are your other numbers? Ammonia, Nitrite? Do you have a grounding probe?

Another reason behind the crab moving is that it has outgrown it's shell. Mine did that. I threw in three choices and he tried and retried them all. They were either too big or too small. Finally, he gave up and went back to the original. Then I found the perfect shell last week. He moved immediately and has not budged since.

 

I will check all the other levels once I dig out the master test kit, I now the nitrite is at 0, I am not running any short of mechanical filtration because I have the fuge/sump, I have mangrove and chetto in there, the mangroves are doing good. I do have a bag of kent nitrate sponge in the fuge. Also the bak pak 2 has a bio media in it. It has been going for about a month and a half. the last water change was last week. heres a photo of the tank set up, not the best looking in the world but you get an idea.