Cycling.

[Reef.]

Trying to start my cycle, had a shrimp in the tank for a week, no ammonia reading from test, I’ve searched on here for help, as I thought I should have ammonia by now, I found one post saying you can’t use a previously frozen shrimp as it won’t produce ammonia?

Is this correct? I can’t get a hold of Dr Ammonia easily, would fish flake be a good alternative to start the cycle or should I wait and get a hold of some Dr Tim’s ammonia.

 

[Greatdane]

You could just put a piece of food in the tank and also what test kit are you using

 

[Reef.]

You could just put a piece of food in the tank and also what test kit are you using

Salifert, there is no change in colour at all.

As yet I haven’t any fish food, which type would be best?

 

[Terri Caton]

Do you not have a grocery store near you? Just go get a piece of not previously frozen seafood. The type doesn’t matter.

Or you can “ghost feed”. Pretend like there are a few fish in your tank and you are feeding them a couple of times a day. Soon you will see ammonia.

 

[Reef.]

Do you not have a grocery store near you? Just go get a piece of not previously frozen seafood. The type doesn’t matter.

Or you can “ghost feed”. Pretend like there are a few fish in your tank and you are feeding them a couple of times a day. Soon you will see ammonia.

Oh right stupid me, so it’s true not to use a frozen shrimp, so any none frozen fish will do, or fish food, thanks I’ll get some tomorrow.

 

[Terri Caton]

I’m not sure about the frozen or not but it doesn’t hurt to try fresh. You probably didn’t put in a big enough piece.

 

[Reef.]

I’m not sure about the frozen or not but it doesn’t hurt to try fresh. You probably didn’t put in a big enough piece.

It’s only 14g, 1 whole shrimp, think it would have been enough.

 

[Terri Caton]

It’s only 14g, 1 whole shrimp, think it would have been enough.

Obviously not. Lol. Maybe you already have a fantastic bacterial colony going and it solved the ammonia problem

 

[Quietman]

Fresh is probably best but only by degrees. Frozen won't matter. It still is
decaying organic matter. Cooked might take longer to decay and it's best not to have cooking oils/seasonings

 

[Quietman]

And if cooked for shrimp cocktail, don't forget the lemon wedges...everyone always forgets the lemon wedges.

 

[Reef.]

Fresh is probably best but only by degrees. Frozen won't matter. It still is
decaying organic matter. Cooked might take longer to decay and it's best not to have cooking oils/seasonings

I’m confused, as surely frozen is going to produce ammonia or that would mean you could feed unlimited amounts of frozen to your fish, so why no ammonia.

I’ve also tested for nitrite and nitrate and they are 0 too. So no cycle.

 

[BeltedCoyote]

If it’s a whole shrimp it might take longer than a week to truly break down. If it’s the sort of shrimp you’d use for food it’s pretty big. Hence why cycling that way versus putting liquid amonia in the tank takes longer. I cycled my 40b with dr Tim’s (which is readily available on brs) took me a week and a half. You are likely still going to get your cycle done. You just need to take into account the time for the whole shrimp to rot.

I guess I’d put it like this. I put a clam on a half shell in the tank I’ve got running now. I have some marine pure balls and the bio media that comes with my hob filter cycled. It’s not super robust bio filtration; I don’t have a skimmer. But from what I’ve observed with my paranoid over testing of nitrates, two days of leaving It in doesn’t result in a noticeable spike in nitrates or nitrites. And I have a valentini (very messy eater) in the tank along with 4 other fish in growing out for my DT, and a bunch of hermits. Yes my tank is cycled. But if such a comparably small amount of organic matter doesn’t immediately break down in the rotting process, a large shrimp will take more time.

From what I’ve read, using the rotting shrimp method is indeed better than sacrificing a fish, but it’s still not nearly as fast of a cycle as skipping straight to the ammonia. I’m by no means an expert at all, but as I was overly worried about cycling my tank with dr Tim’s ammonia and it still took a week... I can only imagine that you’d need to allow more time for the shrimp to go through the decaying process. Everything I read before deciding to just use straight AC indicated that the ghost feeding and shrimp method would take longer, because you’re not only waiting for your bio filtration population to grow; you’re also waiting for the organic matter to break down to the point where it is really providing enough for the bacteria to go to work.

Thus, in my limited experience, I’d say just give it a bit more time. The cycle is going to happen as long as you have a viable culture of bacteria added. A week is pretty quick for the organic matter to rot enough.

 

[Reef.]

If it’s a whole shrimp it might take longer than a week to truly break down. If it’s the sort of shrimp you’d use for food it’s pretty big. Hence why cycling that way versus putting liquid amonia in the tank takes longer. I cycled my 40b with dr Tim’s (which is readily available on brs) took me a week and a half. You are likely still going to get your cycle done. You just need to take into account the time for the whole shrimp to rot.

I guess I’d put it like this. I put a clam on a half shell in the tank I’ve got running now. I have some marine pure balls and the bio media that comes with my hob filter cycled. It’s not super robust bio filtration; I don’t have a skimmer. But from what I’ve observed with my paranoid over testing of nitrates, two days of leaving It in doesn’t result in a noticeable spike in nitrates or nitrites. And I have a valentini (very messy eater) in the tank along with 4 other fish in growing out for my DT, and a bunch of hermits. Yes my tank is cycled. But if such a comparably small amount of organic matter doesn’t immediately break down in the rotting process, a large shrimp will take more time.

From what I’ve read, using the rotting shrimp method is indeed better than sacrificing a fish, but it’s still not nearly as fast of a cycle as skipping straight to the ammonia. I’m by no means an expert at all, but as I was overly worried about cycling my tank with dr Tim’s ammonia and it still took a week... I can only imagine that you’d need to allow more time for the shrimp to go through the decaying process. Everything I read before deciding to just use straight AC indicated that the ghost feeding and shrimp method would take longer, because you’re not only waiting for your bio filtration population to grow; you’re also waiting for the organic matter to break down to the point where it is really providing enough for the bacteria to go to work.

Thus, in my limited experience, I’d say just give it a bit more time. The cycle is going to happen as long as you have a viable culture of bacteria added. A week is pretty quick for the organic matter to rot enough.

Thanks for that, I don’t mind waiting as I’m not ready to add fish for a while, just been reading a fair bit and some posts say a couple of days is plenty, so was concerned after a week nothing seemed to be happening, as said I don’t mind waiting just want to be sure I’m waiting for a reason.

Guess my plan can now be, give it a few more days, order a bottle of Dr Tim’s, as I want some anyway to do the 24 hour test after the cycle, if nothing happens time I get the Dr Tim’s, I’ll remove the shrimp and add the Dr Tim’s.

I have a bottle of Fritz 9 waiting to add as soon as the ammonia shows up.

 

[Bpb]

Ammonia will happen from any type of shrimp you add. Any living tissue which can decay will produce ammonia. You could put a bundle of cilantro in there and it will produce ammonia. A cricket will produce ammonia. Anything that was once alive will work.....

However....most things will also add pollutants in the form of preservatives or disinfectants you don’t want. A raw or frozen peeled shrimp tail was once very commonly used (rinse it well). Most people just use dr Tim’s ammonium chloride, because it won’t add a bunch of phosphate as well (which the shrimp or fish food will indeed add).

If you’re in the lower 48 of the US, you can have it delivered right to your door. Anyone in con-US has access to literally anything anyone else in the country does. If you’re in Canada or overseas....I am not sure