Raw shrimp to start cycle?

[gtbarsi]

It's impossible to buy ammonia around here that doesn't have soap or a sudsing agent added, so be wary!

-Matt

Thus my recommendation for a pure ammonia source... I recommend you use DrTim's Aquatics Ammonium chloride... All of the ammonia I found in grocery, hardware, and other big box stores have other things in it, some times labeled surfactants. Long story they are cleaning compounds, and you do not want them in your tank!

 

[bigfoot86]

Yea, patience is the name of the game hear. Don't rush.

 

[Reef_in_Denver]

I threw 3 raw shrimp in my 75G about a month ago. Saw huge spikes for everything each week. "Done" in 3 weeks.

 

[Dalmatia]

cycling stages are nitrates,nitrites and ammonia is the last step of the cycle.
It does not matter how you are going to cycle a tank .The cycling stages are all the same from salt water to fresh,
Test it w/ a cheap test kit , paper strips , that will do all 3 at once.. waiting is the hardest part lol

Ammonia is first, than it turns into nitrite and that to nitrate

 

[booth2010]

Thanks for all the advice, I think I will just go buy my 30ish lbs of live rock and throw that in the tank and have it cycle using that. Maybe get the Dr Tims Ammonia depending on how it goes.

 

[PapaRod]

Thanks for the correctness..

Close, but it's the other way around.
Ammonia is produced by decomposition and waste (poo, etc.) The bacteria must grow to process it to nitrite, and from nitrite to nitrate. A tank is considered cycled when there is sufficient bacteria to accomplish this process so quickly that you never see the ammonia or nitrite on your test kit.

The bacteria must increase to accomodate the additional load of any new specimens, which is the main reason that stocking needs to be done slowly. Otherwise, you risk overwhelming your current cycle with the new ammonia source, causing a spike (also known as a minicycle) until the bacteria catch up.

A second piece is the denitrification cycle, wherein bacteria further break the nitrate down into nitrogen gas. This part is not what people are referring to when they say the tank is "cycled," though.

 

[PapaRod]

Close but guess i did not get the cigar )P

Ammonia is first, than it turns into nitrite and that to nitrate

 

[Eienna]

Thanks for the correctness..

Haha. Wonder how you got it turned around? Long day at work, maybe?

 

[saltyhog]

Thus my recommendation for a pure ammonia source... I recommend you use DrTim's Aquatics Ammonium chloride... All of the ammonia I found in grocery, hardware, and other big box stores have other things in it, some times labeled surfactants. Long story they are cleaning compounds, and you do not want them in your tank!

Agree. My live rock that I seeded with was so well preserved that there was zero die off to produce ammonia. Using an ammonia source instead of shrimp smells better but either will give you the quantity of bacteria necessary to make your initial stocking as safe as possible.

I also use it in my QT tanks every few days when they are sitting empty waiting on the next fish I want to become available. When fully stocked I continue to do it to keep a tank cycled for a hospital tank if needed.

 

[dmy535]

I got live rock from a LFS and used the “live sand” from BRS during my setup. Didn’t start my cycle even 2 weeks in... had to add a shrimp to help start the cycle!

 

[Conchman]

I use raw shrimp,couple of jumbos...left one in a little too long one time, got chewed by the wife for the smell getting home from dinner one night...

 

[brandon429]

Team

We never add shrimp to live rock to decay, that rock remained full of bacteria regardless of how you moved it

It shows up already cycled it's simply ready and doesn't recycle.

Regarding test kits that may show otherwise, they're wrong. per study threads on non digital test kit accuracy....Misreading test kits invented the notion of live rock dieoff when moved from pet store to home.

Mailing live rock is different. Wrapped in a bag and mailed to us from the ocean is harsher, macro life will die off
But not the bacteria.


A transfer from pet store to home doesn't kill, that's an easy move. We know live rock vs other options available because of the attached living animals and it's wet v dry