Family room starting to STINK

[fixitdude2001]

Ok all, We are cycling our 200 gallon with the raw shrimp. Question is tank has been set up since monday, saltwater tuesday, wendsday raw shrimp, 8 large ones. Ok now its almost a week now and ammonia has spiked high but nothing else no nitrites and no nitrates, shrimp look all hairy and are decomposing well ,and shows with ammonia spike, question is anybody that has used this cycling method how long did or do you wait to remove the smelly shrimp, when the nitrites start to go up ???? these shrimp are staRTING TO SMELL REAL BAD. I chose this method to spare the lives and the problem with useing damsels, this method tho worked well with no smell but, still have the damsels in hospital from the first setup and cant bear to give them up to our local idiot fish store.,and I sure dont want to try and catch them in a 200 gallon. the water is nice and clear have about 6inches of sand bed 10% live and the rest not live. should we wait or will the high ammonia spike we have be enough to finish the cycle????? any ideas would be helpfull on this subject....cya

 

[tangs_in_pacifica]

Unless you're dealing with fully-cured live rock and live sand, it'll may be a week or longer before you notice Nitrites. Nitrates will be behind them. You excercise patience and your tank will do the rest. If you want to speed things up a bit, you could try one of the commercial Nitrosomas.

 

[twoods71]

I would think that because you currently have ammonia in your tank you can go ahead and take the smelly shrimp out. The ammonia should start the nitrites which in turn will start the nitrates.

 

[tangs_in_pacifica]

Twoods,
Just my opinion, but I would keep the shrimp in until Ammonia levels decrease enough to add livestock. Oherwise, the Nitrosomas will run out of waste to eat and they'll stop multiplying. Leave the shimp in to give the good guy bacteria lot's of time to make a bio-filter. your cycle has just begun.

 

[twoods71]

tangs is correct if you remove the shrimp you will still need a source for ammonia to keep the bacteria happy.

 

[q]

If you need a source of ammo then just leave one in and take the rest out. It should at least keep the smell down.
IMHO I would think that since only 10% is live sand it may take a while to get rid of the ammo. I don't have any experience as to whether or not you would want to take out all the shrimp as to the affect of the LS base getting properly seeded or the time for this to occur.

 

[marine qa]

I have cycled a couple of tanks with shrimp. I don't think that you can avoid the smell entirely. I changed the shrimp every couple of weeks to keep the ammonia source constant. After a few weeks, the nitrites began to rise and the smell went away.

 

[justchillin]

i cycled my 75 with 3 shrimp and i left them in there...after about 2-3 weeks they were completely decomposed and the smell started to get better. i would leave everything along and just let the shrimp decompose naturally.
i allowed my tank to cycle for 2 months and then i transfered my 14" snowflake over to it. i tested alot for about 1 month after that and my readings never went up at all. i attribute this to the long cycle and i am totally convinced that this is the way to go.
hth,
mike.
p.s. good luch with your new tank. i would love to get a 200

 

[blueberryboomer]

Thanks to eveyone that posted..I think the 8 jumbos will be staying til the end. I put a couple air deoterizers(spelling) the kind in the open top cans on top of the hood and its helping alot.... Can't wait for the cycle to get done, I know it take time, slower is the best way,its only the beginning, but I can see our niger trigger in there swimming, and he seems sooo happy. Can't Wait! Later Lisa

 

[krustytheclownfish]

Agree with Marine QA and others that said to just leave the shrimp in there. Hang in there, the smell will go away soon enough and you'll have a nice cycled tank. Jealous about the size of your tank by the way.

 

[blueberryboomer]

UPDATE TO CYCLING WITH SHRIMP: I just checked out new tanks cycling progress.
WE HAVE NITRITES!!!! YAAAA! I'm so excited!
Later Lisa