Forget the dead raw shrimp. I fyur going with live rock put some if it in and use that to initate the cycle. Why make a putrid smelly mess with a higher spike of ammonia and nitrite than live rock would cause so yu lessen the chances ofkilling off some critters onthe rock. No need for livre fish or dead shrimp as long as you have live rock., Maybe a few (3 or 4) flakes or pellets of prepared commercial fish food at most , but LR is usfficient nbt itself. To tell when a tank is cycled yu do water tests. YOu can get one of those Ammonia indicators and plae it in the tank and watch it. It will change to a different color as ammonia levels increase. When it returns to safe range then do a test of the ammonia levels and also a nitrite level. No need to keep testing ammonia levels if yu use an inidicator, and they work great for moniitoring a tank cycle as well as a quick indicator once tank is cycled.....but its not a means of eliminating a water check once tank is cycled......To be honest I bet I have not checked ammonia or nitrite in over 9 or 10 months in any of my tanks, as its virtually impossiblke to get ammonia and nitrite buildup if enough live rock is used and yu do not over feed, and even in lots of cases a dead unnoticed fish will not make it go up either.
Once your nitrite and ammonia levels are at "0" do a partial water change and start adding fish one or so at a time spaced out every week or so. Do not throw a bunch in at the same time or its possible to overload the bio system thats been created..
