cycling question

[pat]

ok im now 8 days into cycling......ammonia is at 2.0 nitrites are .25 nitrates are 10.....cycling with one huge raw shrimp.....my question is how high should i let the ammonia go before i remove the shrimp......since this will be aggressive, will having a higher ammonia spike be a good thing, making more natural bacteria for the messy eaters? it is a 125 and i only plan on having like 2 big fish eventually. if i get them small will the bacteria levels just adjust or will i have an abundance of them, making the water qualities better? main question is how high should i let the ammonia ger before i remove the shrimp?

 

[tyrfing]

It depends on how long you can tolerate the stench of the shrimp. You should be able to pull it out by now.

 

[karlas]

i would just leave it in there. the bacteria that is building will help break down the shrimp. and it will dissapear. the more bacteria the quicker it will be gone. also it would give the tank a little extra time to make sure the cycle is complete.

 

[dugan]

When I cycled my tank I just left the shrimp in there. The stench was bad for about a week but then it disappeared. I did have 55 lbs of LR to help the cycle along though.

Katie

 

[rane]

I am also in the cycling process and i did it with three pieces of shrimp and in 3 weeks they disappered completly i did not get any smell and i would suggest to leave it in there untill it disappers by itself