How long to leave shrimp in tank for cycle?

[tigershark]

I put about 3 or 4 cocktail shrimp from the grocery store in each of my tanks last Thursday night. The 45Gal has maybe 5 to 10 LBS of LS and the 60Gal has about 30 LBS LS and 45 LBS LR. I was not sure if the 60 had fully cycled so I decided to use the shrimp method. I read to only leave them in for 3 to 4 days and it has been 4 days so far. I was waiting for the ammonia to spike higher than it is but heres the readings: the 45 has about 0.50 and the 60 has about 0.25 when I tested the ammonia. How high should I let the ammonia get or can I remove the shrimp now? The 60 had about the same ammonia present before the shrimp but I know the shrimp must be raising the ammonia because it has gone up in the 45Gal.

 

[saltyrich]

I will be interested to see the responses on this. I left mine in until they pretty much broke down completely. It took about 5-6 days if I recall correctly.

 

[tigershark]

Rich did you notice how high your ammonia levels went? So after 5 or 6 days, there wasnt any shrimp left?? I can see mine starting to get fuzzy with some string stuff coming out of it so I can tell they are starting to break down.

 

[saltyrich]

The shrimp had completely decomposed. It seems as though your cycle is on its way. As far as ammonia, or anything else, I never saw a reading because I just left the tank alone. I did not test for about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks and everything had bottomed out to zero. I recommend trying some Bactervital at the very end of the cycle for about three days. I've had great results using it. It adds great bacteria to the tank and really prepares it for intial stocking (slow stocking that is).

 

[azonic]

until you see a spike in your ammonia....several points on your test kits ammonia chart should be fine....then you can remove it.

 

[tigershark]

I was hoping the ammonia would spike up a couple of points by now but its only gone up to 0.25 so Im wondering how much longer to leave the shrimp in the tank or is there enough bacteria in the tank all ready and it is keeping up with the rotting shrimp. Im thinking another day or two and its time to take the shrimp out and finish the cycle, which I think will be quick. Im starting to wonder why my clowns died. I thought it was at first the ammonia but I still have a peppermint shrimp alive in the tank with the rotting shrimp. Now I am starting to think the clowns were sick to begin with. They were very brightly colored and only 1 ate somewhat normally but all 3 died within 10 days. Maybe they had too much cyanide in their system. Who knows?.....

 

[swilbs83]

Tigershark are you kidding? You actually had fish inside the tank WHILE there was rotting cocktail shrimp in there....It is almost certainly why your clownfish died...it wasn't cyanide....it was the huge amount of ammonia coming from the shrimp.....Clownfish are hardy but that is ridiculous....I suggest that you do alot of research before you kill anymore fish and waste more money...

 

[radioactive]

I left my shrimp in for 3 days and my 75g is close to being done cycling . It has been cycling for almost 3 weeks ...

 

[tigershark]

Hey swilbs83 if you had read any of my other posts in the weeks earlier you would have noticed that I didnt put the cocktail shrimp in the tank until after the fish died. That is why I wanted to cycle my tank AGAIN to make sure it was fully cycled. I have been doing a lot of research so you can take your pissy attitude somewhere else. You think I killed the fish by putting rotting shrimp in my tank, well I'm not as lame as you are so I wouldnt do that. If your just here to talk smack, then get lost
Radioactive: I pulled a shrimp out yesterday and it smells real bad so I know it is rotting. The ammonia still hasnt really spiked but there must be a lot of bacteria on my rocks and sand so keep the levels down. I think I'll take the shrimp out tonite and let the cycle finish. Hopefully only another week or 2 till its done. Thanks for you help.

 

[buzz]

You did however mention that you still had a peppermint alive in the tank with the rotting shrimp. That may be a recipe for peppermint death. I would consider taking that out too.
And as for the clowns, if you were initially using those clowns to cycle the tank prior to putting the raw shrimp in the tank, that may account for their death. Some clowns are not capable of living through a cycle - most actually. The raw shrimp concept is becoming more widely used for that very reason - cycling is most often too stressful for fish, and they die.
Of course, I didn't read any of your previous posts either, so if I am mistaken on the cycling with clowns, bear with me.
Let's all take this down a notch, and focus on the question at hand...you can't assume or expect that people will do a search on all of your previous posts when trying to help you, but I understand being jumped on is frustrating too.

 

[swilbs83]

well tiger it's good to know that you didn't have your clownfish inside the tank with the rotting shrimp...However, the way you said it made it seem like you had them in there......
"Im starting to wonder why my clowns died. I thought it was at first the ammonia but I still have a peppermint shrimp alive in the tank with the rotting shrimp. "
That made it seem like you were wondering why the fish died with the shrimp in there, and the peppermint didn't......
So before you start callin people "lame and pissy" I suggest you learn to write whereas people can correctly understand what you're saying...And btw having anything living in a tank with a rotting shrimp is stupid

 

[azrile]

More then likely you already had a nice bacterial growth going from the clownfish before you even added the shrimp. That is why you are not really seeing a steep spike.
The spike you are thinking of is caused because there is NO bacteria present when the decaying shrimp is added, so there is nothing there to convert the ammonia. You however, probably have a good bit of bacteria that is doing a decent job of converting the ammonia before it builds up.

 

[tigershark]

Yes there is still 1 peppermint in my tank and I cannot get him out. I tried for almost 2 hours after removing the other 4 and the cleaner shrimp but this one keeps pulling a disappearing act, then when I move my rocks around, it stirs up the sand, which is oolitic so I think hes staying in there. I was not cycling the tank with the clowns. I had 45 LBS of what I thought was cured LR (had it in a bucket for 2 weeks with a skimmer, heater, and powerhead) and added another 30 LBS of packaged LS, let that sit in the tank for a week, tested the water and it was Amm 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates about 7 so I thought it was safe to add some clowns. The clowns never really ate from the start except for one, then a week later I added the shrimp. About 2 or 3 days later I saw a little ammonia starting to show up, so I did water changes but still the clowns didnt eat and they started to look more sick, the shrimp were fine. The clowns died after about 10 days so I decided I would fully cycle my tank, thinking that the 0.25 reading of ammonia was the cause of their death but then I thought that the shrimp would have died also, which they havent. Either way, Im making sure the tank fully cycles, which it looks like it has enough bacteria all ready to keep ammonia levels in check b/c 3 cocktail shrimp and 1 peppermint shirmp who got caught in a powerhead have been in there since last Thrusday and ammonia was still only 0.25 or less as of last night.
Buzz thanks for your reply and your help and Azrile I think you are right too. So thanks for the help guys, hopefully after this cycle, I can get some clowns but I need to figure out how to tell if they are healty at first.
And swilbs83 there is not need to jump down peoples throats without knowing or asking for all the details first. just a suggestion

 

[fshhub]

Originally posted by TigerShark
Hey swilbs83 if you had read any of my other posts in the weeks earlier you would have noticed that I didnt put the cocktail shrimp in the tank until after the fish died. That is why I wanted to cycle my tank AGAIN to make sure it was fully cycled. I have been doing a lot of research so you can take your pissy attitude somewhere else. You think I killed the fish by putting rotting shrimp in my tank, well I'm not as lame as you are so I wouldnt do that. If your just here to talk smack, then get lost

sorry, but i have ot agree with swilb, not only did it sound like that, you must rmember that we do not all read every post, adn even if all of us did, it is more htan probable that not every one of us is going ot remember every post well enough to remember all details about every one. THERE ARE ALOT OF MEMBERS HERE and alot of posts happening every day. So PLEASE, in the future, do give at least a brief over site and/or be more tolerant of others who are trying to help. AND silb, please be a little more selctive in how you address other members who may or may not know what they are doing, your opnening does seem a bit abrasive and thrashing.
lets just cut back on the flaming, ok?