cycling a tank with raw shrimp

[nanahugs]

I set up my 40G aquarium on Wednesday and am using a raw shrimp, live sand, 60lbs, and live rock, 25lbs, to help it cycle. Anyway, the piece of shrimp was pink this morning like they look after you cook them. Is this normal and is it still helping to cycle the tank? My water temp is 77.5 and I am running my 156 watts of T-5 lights 12 hours a day. The shrimp was not pink when I put it in, it was raw. Anyway, just curious if this was normal.
(I am also running my Emperor filter, but have not started to run my skimmer yet. (I plan on getting another 20lbs of live rock today as well.)
~Heidi

 

[bang guy]

Hi Heidi,
It's normal.
There are many differing thoughts on this but keep an eye on the ammonia level and if it gets above 0.5ppm remove the shrimp and do a water change. If ammonia gets too high it will reduce the diversity of animals in your live sand and live rock making them less effective for filtering your water.

 

[nanahugs]

Thanks Bang for your quick response. I will keep track of my amonia. I have one of those amonia alert things on my tank. I was just not sure how a "cooked" looking piece of shrimp could cycle a tank, but I really do not want to use live fish if possible. I will just monitor and be patient. If the amonia does spike and I remove the shrimp and do the water change, do I just let the tank be or put another piece of shrimp in the tank?
Thanks again for your speedy response.
~Heidi

 

[bang guy]

If it were me I would just feed the tank a tiny pinch of fish food every day. That way you can control the ammonia level better.
The Shrimp works because as it rots it becomes an ammonia source. This ammonia is very similar to waste that would be produced by fish. The fish food also works because as the critters in your sand bed and rock eat the fish food they will produce waste and cycle the tank.
I'll also state that what I described as far as keeping ammonia levels low is not the current standard way of cycling. Most people let the ammonia spike climb really high until the bacteria populations catch up and consume all of the ammonia.
I have found that small amounts of ammonia works better for me long term and there's less chance of getting a "bum" rock. My definition of a bum rock is where the "live" part, worms, crustaceans, etc., have been exterminated by high ammonia levels and all that's left is bacteria and the corpses. The rocks are loaded with devaying organic materia that will leech phosphate for months. They are easy to pick out in reef tanks because they are usually loaded with hair algae and coralline won't grow on them. Since the nutrients are coming from the rock itself it doesn't matter how clean the water is, the hair algae will still thrive.

 

[nanahugs]

Thanks again Bang. I just bought another 25lbs of live rock from my LFS and carefully placed it in my tank, (I now have 45lbs of live rock in my 40G tank.) I just set my tank up the day before yesterday, so I thought it would be best to add the rock now. I also removed the raw shrimp and will now "ghost feed" per your suggestion. The LFS owner also advised me to remove the shrimp. He told me that the 60lbs of live sand and 45lbs of live rock should cycle the tank. Anyway, I will still add the fish food.
In my tank is also an Emporer filter, one powerhead, (Maxi-Jet 900-230 gph,) and a Bak Pak skimmer which I will not hook up till the tank has cycled for a month or so. Do I need anything else like another powerhead at the opposite end of the tank? I bought all the live rock that I want, (the tank is 36" wide, 12" deep and 20" high.) I really like the look that I have created with the live rock I have now and there is nowhere to go except up and I am already up about 12", and everything is very stable now and I do not want to upset things. I assume that 45lbs of live rock is enough with me running a fliter as well.
Thanks again for your sage advise.
~Heidi

 

[bang guy]

I'm a fan of a lot of waterflow. Around 900gph for your tank IMO. Powerheads, closed loop, canister filters, etc. all help but you want the water turbulent with very few dead spots just like the natural reefs.
Remember, it you're doing it my way you need to keep track of ammonia daily. If it's climbing then stop feeding. The idea is a trace amount of Ammonia until the tank can handle the amount of fish food you'll feed your first couple of fish. Also keep in mind that a cycled tank isn't stable for a week or two so don't rush things. No delicate creatures for quite a while as the tank matures and becomes stable.
Good luck!