Cycling with Shrimp

[aquarius31]

I've just set up a 55g Tropical tank. I have 40 pounds of marine sand and 40 pounds of LS. I also placed 2 supermarket shrimps in a stocking and placed it inside the tank. How long should I keep the shrimp in my tank? Also the LFS told me that I should keep my salinity between 1.012 and 1.014. Is this correct?

 

[col]

Keep the shrimp in tank until you see ammonia rise to a decent level.
SG (or salinity) should be about 1.023

 

[aquarius31]

Thanks for responding. Do I remove it after the it ammonia decreases to a safe level or after it rises to a dangerous level?

 

[aggie05]

It doesn't matter, but don't take it out until the ammonia has spiked. Then you can pull it whenever you feel like picking up a mushy shrimp.

 

[overanalyzer]

Do you have any LR in there with the LS?? just curious?? If you do then I would check the ammonia before hte first week is out as you ammonia with the amount of LS and IF you have LR may start to spike earlier than the end of the first week ...
also - good idea with the stocking for the shrimp!!!

 

[aquarius31]

I only have LS there. I've check my ammonia yesterday and it was .50. I'm using the tetra test kits. PH was 0, trites and trates were 0. Salinity was 1.014. I also want to add more sand. Any suggestions on how to do that since I've already filled the tank with water?

 

[aggie05]

you need to up your salinity first.

 

[col]

PH is 0????

 

[justchillin]

as far as the shrimp goes: i left mine in and let them decay naturally....
as far as adding more sand it really doesn't matter if you add it after the tank has water in it...it will cloud up for a few days and then settle (just turn you ph's if there on)...i would probably pull out the stocking and shrimp just while your adding it so it doesn't get barried, but just toss it back in afterwards and it whould be fine...
and definatly raise the SG up to as close to 1.023 as you can get it...
if your getting a reading of 0 for your ph then you may want to retest or even try another test kit (your LFS should be able to test it for you too)...
tht,
mike

 

[badasstang]

I was told that if you are keeping a fish only tank, the salinity can be low, like 1.017 ish. The LFS that I go to alot (the only one I trust) has a quarantine (sp?) setup and the salinity is 1.013. He says this is alright, even less stressful on the fish because then they don't have to "fight the salt".
This is just what I heard, mine is higher (1.022), because this seems like a large difference.

 

[aquarius31]

Please pardon my results of PH. I stand corrected. The reading is 8.0. Should I get it higher? Also, yesterday I tested the ammonia again and it was @ 1.5. I guess it's spiking. As for as BADASSTANG's comment on the salinity. The LFS asked me if I was setting up a reef tank or a fish only tank, when I told her that I was setting up a fish only tank. She stated that the salinity should between 1.012 and 1.015.
I love this site.

 

[col]

Don't worry about ph until tank has cycled.
I think fish can survive at a range of SG levels, but it is the norm to shoot for 1.023 ish unless you are treating fish in QT.
If you add shrimp, snails starfish etc they will not survive if it is much below.

 

[aquarius31]

Thanks. Im so excited. I'm not going to use damsels as introductory fish. Instead, I'm going to use chromis.

 

[justchillin]

there is a wide range that fish can survive in however 1.022is consider ideal...
the lower levels you talked about (hyposalinaty) are used primarily for disease treatment which is why many q-tanks and lfs keep there tanks at lower SG levels...there are so many fish that come in that disease is pretty much inevitable so by keeping there tanks at lower SG levels it can help stop the spread of disease...this may work in the short term but is not healthy long term...
mike

 

[overanalyzer]

Originally posted by justchillin
there is a wide range that fish can survive in however 1.022is consider ideal...

I have heard everything from 1.023 - 1.025 as being ideal. I think the ideal salinity is dependent upon what kind of critters you keep and what they are used to ....
personal I keep mine around 1.023 to 1.024 - lately it has been pegged @ the halfway mark between those two .....

 

[justchillin]

sorry typo...meant 1.023 was ideal...
i've always heard that 1.022-1.024 with 1.023 being the midpoint...
sorry