Is a clean up crew necessary if there is no evident algae?
I've recently just established that my saltwater aquarium has cycled through Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates are ~10-20 ppm. I have been and am still ghost feeding the tank, since I purchased dry rock as I didn't want any unnecessary hitch hikers introduced to my tank right off the bat. I have talked to the LFS experts and they would like me to get my cleanup crew, but, alas, there doesn't seem to be any visible evidence of anything to clean up! I've cured the rock and cycled the tank with minuscule or no light. The tank has been cycling in a window-less basement room, so there is absolutely no shred of natural light either.
How would the clean up crew benefit me at this point, other than adding more
ammonia than my ghost feeding?
I mean, I realize that eventually I will need to add crabs and snails, but I'm thinking I should do that after I have fish in there and actually start seeing some algae to clean up right?
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In my situation, as I stated in a comment here, I did end up seeing algae growth about a week after I added my cleanup crew. Like I said, I cycled the tank after curing dry pukani rock from Bulk Reef Supply. I used a bacterial seed and I definitely established that my ammonia was being converted as part of the nitrogen cycle.
I think that many aquarists will have mixed success depending on a variety of intangibles in this hobby. For me, the cleanup crew added as a bio-load to the established tank just sort of helped balance some things out. The snails now hanging out at the water line and in the sand where there seems to be the most amount of stuff for them to eat. The crabs will eat the flaked food the floats to the bottom.
Since asking this question, I'm thinking about introducing my first fish. I felt comfortable that the snails and crabs were doing great so I think I'm ready to pull the trigger on the fish. per crab/snail versus or more for a clown or angelfish.
All in all that was the greatest benefit for me. The peace of mind that my 75 gallon could handle the bioload of these newest members. I think each situation will call for different needs and dried rock will probably take a lot longer than seeding with live rock, but my next tank build will go in a similar manner. I see no point in spending a lot of money on a favorite fish species to throw it into a tank too early and shock and stress that fish! Toss the crabs and snails in first, as they're less expensive and yet somewhat hardy, and see how it goes. Take your time. Nothing in the hobby happens quickly, my 10 years ago experience will tell you that!
Mine is a fresh water aquarium and I recently added the nerite snail as cleaning crew. I got to know that they eat algae but they add up their waste to fish waste. Better to add the clean up crew later once you see some food source available for them. I added otto very early during my new aquarium and otto ended up finding no food to feed on. I have to return them as they became weak due to no food source.
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