Clean up crew and BTA questions. please help.

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sparky5785

New member
Ok so I need help from some of you experienced reefers out there. My first reef is two months old. It is a 40gal acrylic. Current livestock is as follows: 45lbs Fiji live rock, 40lbs indo-pacific black arag-alive by caribsea, 1 black and white occelaris, 1 regular occelaris, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 coral banded shrimp, 3 red leg hermits, 3 astrea snails, 1 Margarita Turbo snail. The two questions I have right now are: 1. I want to get a clean up crew can anyone tell me what kinds are the best for algae, detritus, sand sifting or any other uses that are compatible with the small handful of inverts I already have and (here's the big part) how many of each kind should I get for my size system. 2. I would like to get a BTA to my two clowns to host. I have read many different things from they are an easy beginners nem to they are very difficult. This is very confusing to me. Can someone explain to me how do I know if and when my system is ready for a BTA? Thank you all in advance for helping this rookie.
 
Wow 12 months didn't see that coming. Not your fault I'm just discouraged. I had no idea it would take that long. What about soft corals mushrooms and zoas? Do you have any input there or an equally informative link?
 
12 months is a bit excessive. I usually like to wait at least 3-6 months before selling/recommending anyone an anemone. BTAs are extremely hardy and difficult to kill though.
 
12 months????

I totally disagree with this one..
As long as the tank is stable and lighting is adequate then I think you are ok. I am sure there is some scientific reasoning as why you should wait 12 months but I can honestly say I have NEVER waited that long for a BTA. Stable parameters and enough lighting is the key. I think if you can keep a SPS coral alive then you will be fine with a BTA. Just my 2 cents for what its worth.........but I can say in the 10+ years of reefkeeping and atleast 5 different tanks (all with BTA's) in all I have always successfully had bta's and introduced around the 2 month mark when the tank stabilized.
 
I have 4×39w t5 may upgrade in the future to 6 lamp or halides? Rio 1400 return pump koralia 1 looking to add two more powerheads and a wavemaker so after that as long as my perameters are in range and stable I should be ok in a month or two? Sounds good to me. Any one with input on clean up crew would be great I'd like to get going with that.
 
For cleanup crew I would go to reefcleaners.org and fill out the form for them to customize a cleanup crew for your exact tank. They will email back there suggestions and you can work from there. They are very knowledgeable in this area. They take all your tank specs and what you want in the future into account so they can design a crew for you. You then dont have to buy from them but atleast you will have a good suggestion to work from.
 
You would actually be surprised with their prices. I find them to be extremely well priced. I purchased 93 itmes from them. snails, hermits, chitons, crabs and a few other species and shipped to my door was only like 65$. Try buying 93 snails and crabs a a LFS and see what the total price is!
Oh and I am no way affiliated with that site....just have had good experiences with them.
 
No, it is only express for hermits but you can express everything if you wanted to. I guess the snails are a little more hardy where you can do 2 to 3 day shipping and not the express.
 
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