How long on the shrimp cycle?

[uberlink]

I'm cycling my tank and, after reading some of the threads on here, decided it made sense to throw in a dead shrimp to move things along. So I've got a nice raw shrimp in my 28-gallon tank now, along with live rock and live sand.
My question: How long should the shrimp stay? Let it rot completely? Take it out soon? Any danger that if it stays too long it will harm the microorganisms already present in the tank? Thanks much.

 

[azocean709]

how much live rock and is it cured already? how much live sand....? If you have a good amount of live rock "UNCURED" and live sand you shouldn't need the shrimp...as many will tell you. Patience is the key in this hobby. My tank has been cycling for 7 weeks now. 55 gallon....60lbs of live rock and a 3 inch sand bed. I haven't added the first of even a clean up crew yet. Just wait and keep testing your water. you may not need the shrimp at all. good luck to you.

 

[uberlink]

Originally Posted by AzOcean709
how much live rock and is it cured already? how much live sand....? If you have a good amount of live rock "UNCURED" and live sand you shouldn't need the shrimp...as many will tell you. Patience is the key in this hobby. My tank has been cycling for 7 weeks now. 55 gallon....60lbs of live rock and a 3 inch sand bed. I haven't added the first of even a clean up crew yet. Just wait and keep testing your water. you may not need the shrimp at all. good luck to you.
Thanks for your reply.
It's a 28 gallon tank with about 20 pounds of live sand (partially mixed with about ten pounds of crushed shells) and 20-25 pounds of live rock--all pre-cured and in good shape.
The shrimp has been in since last night, and I tested this morning for ammonia, nitrates, and nitrite. I'm at my office now and can't remember the numbers, but I saw a slight increase in ammonia, a large increase in nitrates (up from zero pre-shrimp), and managed to screw up the nitrite test so no result there.
Does anyone think the shrimp will hurt anything if it stays in? Any thoughts on how long is too long?

 

[kdfrosty]

Let the shrimp completely dissolve. It will become all gross and fuzzy looking....that's normal.
Eventually it will completely decompose and disappear. At that poit I would begin checking your water levels every other day. Look for an ammonia spike, followed by a nitrite spike, followed by a nitrate spike. Once you see nitrates spike and ammonia levels go back down to or near 0, do a 25% water change.
You should make yourself familiar with the cycle.

 

[uberlink]

Originally Posted by KDFrosty
Let the shrimp completely dissolve. It will become all gross and fuzzy looking....that's normal.
Eventually it will completely decompose and disappear. At that poit I would begin checking your water levels every other day. Look for an ammonia spike, followed by a nitrite spike, followed by a nitrate spike. Once you see nitrates spike and ammonia levels go back down to or near 0, do a 25% water change.
You should make yourself familiar with the cycle.
That's very helpful, thank you so much.
Two quick follow-up questions:
(1) The shrimp is in its shell. I'm guessing I should remove that at some point, yeah?
(2) It's a big fat shrimp, like a prawn. Should I cut it up a bit to hasten the decomposition, or just let nature take its course?
Thanks again.

 

[bigarn]

Once you see the ammonia spike you can take the shrimp out . It should be de-shelled so it decomposes faster ... you don't have to cut it up. After this just wait out the cycle.
Good Luck

 

[lepete]

Hmmm...
If your LR/LS is cured & cycled (from established tank), you dont need to cycle it again. Usually, it takes a week or more to see the nitrate. You are seeing a 'large' increase pretty early. This indicates that you have plenty of nitrite-to-nitrate bateria already in your aquarium.
If you want to speed up your cycling, take out the shrimp. Your LR/LS quantity is fine for your aquarium. Whatever DOC from the shrimp will be sufficient to do a mini-cycle. Wait until ammonia and nitrite is zero. Do a 25% water change. Then, add livestock slowly.

 

[uberlink]

Originally Posted by lepete
Hmmm...
If your LR/LS is cured & cycled (from established tank), you dont need to cycle it again. Usually, it takes a week or more to see the nitrate. You are seeing a 'large' increase pretty early. This indicates that you have plenty of nitrite-to-nitrate bateria already in your aquarium.
If you want to speed up your cycling, take out the shrimp. Your LR/LS quantity is fine for your aquarium. Whatever DOC from the shrimp will be sufficient to do a mini-cycle. Wait until ammonia and nitrite is zero. Do a 25% water change. Then, add livestock slowly.
I was pleased to see the nitrate jump this morning. I have done freshwater tanks for a long time before the recent jump to marine, and in my past experience this usually takes a while. But it went from absolutely zero (light blue liquid in the test tube) pre-shrimp, to something up the scale a couple of notches (again, can't remember the number, but a much more purple color) this morning--just twelve hours after the addition of the shrimp.
I took this as a sign that the cycle is already pretty much established, and it sounds like that's correct. If so, hooray!
What's the consensus? Yank the shrimp tonight when I get home, and then watch the ammonia-nitrate-nitrite levels over the next week or ten days? If everything's cycling normally (i.e. no ammonia, then shift to nitrate, then to nitrite), I can safely add a couple hardy fish in a few weeks?

 

[lepete]

ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate ... I say in 4 days, your ammonia, nitrite will be zero. But, your test kit will provide you the correct anwser. Dont forget to do a final 25% water change to get rid of some nitrate.

 

[kdfrosty]

Ideally I would've taken the shell off of the shrimp before putting it in the tank, but depending on how long it's been int here it might be hard to take the shell off now. The shrimp may turn to mush if handled, and it's been in there long enough.
Personally I say just let it completely decompose. There's no downfall to letting it do so besides a longer, stronger cycle. but patience is the name of game when it comes to saltwater.

 

[uberlink]

I think I misspoke before. I think it was nitrite, not nitrate, that had increased this morning. I botched the nitrate test (added one too many drops, and didn't have time to redo it correctly). Please excuse the mistake, but I think it nevertheless supports the notion that the tank is beginning to cycle.
Also, while I didn't remove the shell, it was slit all the way up the back, so the flesh is mostly exposed to the water.
I think I'll let the shrimp stay in there for now, unless it starts stinking up the house. Sounds like no harm either way, and possibly a bit more beneficial bacterial development the longer he remains in the tank. Plus, he's the most interesting thing in there right now...

 

[kdfrosty]

Just wait until it looks like a ball of fuzz.