exodus7627
Member
I had heard that if you put a few raw shrimp into the tank while its cycling it cuts down on the cycle time. Just curious to know if that is true.
Cycle question
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daniel411
Guest
Originally posted by Exodus7627
I had heard that if you put a few raw shrimp into the tank while its cycling it cuts down on the cycle time. Just curious to know if that is true.
It give the bacteria food to start the cycle and multiply quicker to my knowledge. If you've already had the ammonia start to spike, than I wouldn't add anything. If you have anything left, I'd remove the leftovers once the ammonia starts to climb... alot of people leave it in though.
belothsurf
Member
The whole cycling process is about establishing a bacteria population. The first bacteria that begin to grow are the one's that chow down on ammonia. The dead shrimpy is decaying and causing ammonia, thus starting the cycle. Two dead shrimpy's may be overkill (pardon the pun), because that may cause too much ammonia, and it would take longer for a bacteria population to grow to reduce the ammonia levels to nitrites, which is the second phase. I would think one would be plenty, and just let it decay. Take out the exoskeleton, once the meat is gone. Also, the length of time depends on what you have in the tank already. If you started with cured live rock, it already came with bacteria, and provides more homes for the bacteria to live in, so you will get more bacteria, quicker. HTH.:happyfish
exodus7627
Member
Thanks for the info everyone.
belothsurf
Member
:jumping: