Cleaner Shrimp Order

[AJ_77]

Ross, how long has your refugium been cycling, and what size is it? What are your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate readings? (Same questions for your main tank.)

I don't know if your tank is quite ready, and rushing it is universally viewed as a bad idea. I don't want to throw water on your fire, but it's no point sacrificing animals to impatience (although many of us may have at some point).

But - if your refugium is near-to-ready then perhaps you could start with a batch now, and then order again when your main tank comes online. It's a 180 in't it? You'll need quite a number of cleanup crew.

It's a thought... and as for scarlet reef hermits, I'm a big fan. They clean rocks, sand, debris, dead and dying animals, dead coral tissue, slime algae, you name it. I also really like the Astrea snails - they do a good job on rocks and glass too. Nassarius are fun to watch in the sand, but are too small to do much, really. I'm hoping for good things from this fighting conch. You'll probably need two... eventually.

Keep in mind also, if you get a few at first they can get ahead of the algae growth curve and keep it in check for the inevitable cycles/blooms you'll get in a new tank. If you buy too many off the bat, they might not have enough food in a new system. (Hence my "buy in batches" advice.)

HTH,

Alan