Going old school - cycling with dead shrimp

[jgaepi]

On my other most recent cycle, I used Dr. Tim's. It was a bust. They clearly sent me a dead starter bottle and/or their directions need to be updated (again). This time I'm using Fritz Turbo Start 900. At a 200% dose rate. I'm not going to mess with my leftover Dr. Tims ammonia. I decided to go old school with a dead shrimp.

With the Turbo Start, can I pull out the shrimp earlier? Still need to use a mesh bag? And, can I just throw a snail or two in there to eat the shrimp as it's decaying?

Thank you.

 

[mr9iron]

Yes, you certainly can do that. Or, you could use pure ammonia for the cycle as well.

 

[Katrina71]

I used shrimp and pulled it on the 3rd day.

 

[jgaepi]

I used shrimp and pulled it on the 3rd day.

Perfect. Does that typically provide at least 1ppm of ammonia?

 

[keystoneckp]

My last tank setup I tried Dr Tim's to no avail. Went with the dead shrimp and took 5 days.

 

[jgaepi]

My last tank setup I tried Dr Tim's to no avail. Went with the dead shrimp and took 5 days.

Bingo!

 

[User1]

On my other most recent cycle, I used Dr. Tim's. It was a bust. They clearly sent me a dead starter bottle and/or their directions need to be updated (again). This time I'm using Fritz Turbo Start 900. At a 200% dose rate. I'm not going to mess with my leftover Dr. Tims ammonia. I decided to go old school with a dead shrimp.

With the Turbo Start, can I pull out the shrimp earlier? Still need to use a mesh bag? And, can I just throw a snail or two in there to eat the shrimp as it's decaying?

Thank you.

Bummer on your results with Dr. Tim's. I used it last year on my 210 gallon upgrade. Worked well. Test Ammonia before. Added Dr. Tim's per instructions, then dosed Ammonia to instructions which I believe was 4 ppm, tested to verify, and waited. No lights, skimmer, etc. Just water circulation. Tested Ammonia twice a week until it was able to clear 4 ppm ammonia in under 24 hours. All in all it took about 24 days. I was in no rush.

My understanding with Fritz Turbo, and there is a good thread here somewhere on this board, is if you add that product and then the proper amount of Ammonia it will cycle in 24 hours. That is at least what the thread was. No shrimp. Just dose ammonia and it will be done in no time.

 

[saltyhog]

When you say Dr Tim's are you referring to the bacterial product not the ammonia source?

The bacteria source and the ammonia source are two different animals. There's nothing special about using a dead shrimp unless you just like the smell. I used Dr Tim's ammonia but any ammonia source is just as good. If I were going to use a bacterial source to speed up the process I would use the Fritz Turbo Start. There was a thread that tested all of the bacterial sources for cycling a tank and the Fritz produce was hands down the best.

 

[BeejReef]

I feel like Dr. Tim gets a bad rap.. lol. The guy designed his product to pour into the aquarium and to add a fish the next day. I'm sure it's happened, but I never hear fail stories when people use it like that. To be fair, he does talk about a fishless cycle as well. I just don't think that's what it was really designed for.

 

[jgaepi]

I feel like Dr. Tim gets a bad rap.. lol. The guy designed his product to pour into the aquarium and to add a fish the next day. I'm sure it's happened, but I never hear fail stories when people use it like that. To be fair, he does talk about a fishless cycle as well. I just don't think that's what it was really designed for.

My only bad rap towards the product is that I'm 99% sure I received a dead product. It arrived on a 100 degree day. It had been in transit for 72 hours. I asked for a replacement and they told me to beat it. So, I'm not a fan anymore.

I only got my money back because of sheer luck using Amazon Pay and Amazon returned my money.

It is interesting. Back when I kept a reef in 2013-2014, I felt companies bent over backwards for customers. 5 years later, I think (MANY) of their pockets have grown fat and they don't care about customers anymore.

 

[BeejReef]

My only bad rap towards the product is that I'm 99% sure I received a dead product. It arrived on a 100 degree day. It had been in transit for 72 hours. I asked for a replacement and they told me to beat it. So, I'm not a fan anymore.

I only got my money back because of sheer luck using Amazon Pay and Amazon returned my money.

It is interesting. Back when I kept a reef in 2013-2014, I felt companies bent over backwards for customers. 5 years later, I think (MANY) of their pockets have grown fat and they don't care about customers anymore.

You probably have a point. I'm just glad I went with fish. Was considering a RV trailer. Once the fever broke and I was able to think about it objectively..... bullet dodged. They're built like ______ and have warranties shorter than budget aquarium heaters.

Similar dynamic though, selling a product to people who aren't averse to spending good money.

 

[brandon429]

your tank is now cycled along with the first round
doubly good.

*going off the study where fritz was proved to cycle in 30 hours/ why you paid a lot for it
B

wish i coulda got my hands on the tank and testing before the redo, I bet we could have shown it passed w dr tims

 

[Mattman1977]

I’ve only ever cycled a system with a fresh shrimp or two. No bottle of anything just the shrimp and a few weeks. Test it after a week with my super cheap api test kit, it’s an ammonia test really doesn’t have to be accurate at this point in the tanks life, then after 3 weeks turn the lights on and ghost feed it every few days, normally cheap pellets I bought years ago. If I have live rock from a established tank I’ll add a chunk now and seed the tank with pods and whatnot.When I start seeing the uglies appear I start my water changes and add the start of my cuc. Nothing good every happens fast in this hobby. Slow down and enjoy the science behind it.

I’m mid cycle right now on my 4th system lol it’s a addictive hobby

Matt

 

[WVNed]

It's a crap shoot. I paid big bucks for a large bottle of Turbo Start that was refigerated when I bought it. It did nothing. The bacterial additives do work but there is no way to tell if you are getting a live bottle and they are expensive. What has worked for me is getting 3-4 different kinds and hitting the tank with them all.
Eventually one of them has worked. There is no magic in a shrimp. I was feeding LRS to my tank so I just started putting some into the new tank.