Shrimp to Cycle Tank

dnvrbrown

dnvrbrown

Member
I have a new 75 gallon tank that I am in the process of setting up. I have decided to use a raw shrimp to start the cycle of my tank. I have not yet placed the live rock in the tank but will do so tomorrow. Do I leave the shrimp in the tank only until the amonia level spikes then take it out or do I wait until the amonia goes back to zero while the shrimp is still in the tank? Should I leave the shrimp even after I add the live rock? As of right now, the amonia level is at 1.0 and the tank has been cycling with the raw shrimp since Monday. At what point do I need to do a major water change? Should I do this prior to adding the live rock?
 
sickboy

sickboy

Active Member
Well, I think that normally the shrimp is put in after the live rock is put in so that the bacteria builds on the rock. Is your rock cycled already? If not, I would attempt to keep the amm at 1 until you put the rock in. Then wait until amm and trites are zero, then do a water change.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
wihthout any rock, there is no bacteria... why put the shrimp in yet? they really do turn nasty after a while in the tank and you'd probably not want to touch it after a few days...
 
dnvrbrown

dnvrbrown

Member
well, I have live sand in the water already. Does that make a difference? Also the guy I purchased the rock from said it was already cured and I would have very very little die off. I'm actually worried about the rock though. he sent it ups ground and it is taking 7 days to get here. He said he wrapped it in extremely wet paper towels and placed in a sealed plastic bag. He says should be fine, but I'm worried. Do you think it will survive? Am I just going to end up with expensive base rock?
 
robertmathern

robertmathern

Active Member
Wow dude do yourself a favor and see if you can send the rock back if it has taken a week to get to you it is just base rock now. I know you did not want to hear that. But anyone who sends live rock 7 days intransit it just plain nuts. Also the die off on that rock is going to make yourAmonia go through the roof. So you do not need the shrimp at all. Plus 1.0 amonia is already high. So remove the shrimp. I recomend after you get the rock and put it in. After a few days go to your lfs and get some Instant ocean Bio sparia. It is bacteria. And will help at least it did for me. But you only need it if your amonia is really high you also are going to need alot of salt. You are going to need to do alot of water changes during your cycle if your amonia is going to go as high as I think it is. Try to keep it at .25 during your cycle and I know it is easier said than done but if you try it will do wanders. Good luck and try to send the rock back if you can.
 
dnvrbrown

dnvrbrown

Member
How would I know if the rock is salvagable? I emailed the seller and ask how it was shipped and recieved this response:
This rock was shipped to industry standards packed in a plasic bag with saltwater wet paper towels, then placed in a styrofoam lined cardboard box. Remember, this rock is cured already which means it has already experienced the die off associated with "fresh" rock. All of the rock I have sold has been with standard shipping, while yours is taking a bit longer due to the holidays it should still be fine.(next day would have added a couple hundred dollars to the shipping) I would recomend that you rinse the pieces with saltwater prior to placing in your aquarium(just use a 5 gallon bucket full of saltwater) It wouldn't hurt to run the tank with no lights and no animals for a week or two prior to the initial stocking.
 
dnvrbrown

dnvrbrown

Member
One more thing...with all of the die off I am expecting from the rock, do you think my sand will be ok with the amonia spike? I plan on doing the frequent water change as recommended above to keep the amonia at .25
 
robertmathern

robertmathern

Active Member
Originally Posted by dnvrbrown
http:///forum/post/2896040
One more thing...with all of the die off I am expecting from the rock, do you think my sand will be ok with the amonia spike? I plan on doing the frequent water change as recommended above to keep the amonia at .25
yeah you are going to have die off for sure it is no longer cured rock. But if packeged properly it will still be live but barely. Things deep in the rock might make it. I forgot about holiday back up. Never buy (online) or ship livestock around the holidays. As far as the sand just try to keep tha amonia down and it will be fine. It is live so it has bacteria to help fight amonia. Good luck
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
The rock will need to be recured, and I pretty much guarantee you will not need that raw shrimp to get the ammonia spike :)
It will all be good in the end.
For what its worth, any live rock that is shipped should be considered uncured, IMO.
 
aztec reef

aztec reef

Active Member
Cycle has already started.. So take the shrimp out..
Now, when u get the lr it will have some die-off.. if u you put in in tank it will re-start the cycle or at least give u a higher ammonia spike..
I would put the lr in a 5g bucket with powerheads and a small heater for at least a week and keep tabs on the ammonia levels..
Or the easier thing to do is to just put the lr in the tank as soon as you get it and do partial water changes in order to keep ammonia levels at .25- 1ppm.. if u want u can start doing waterchanges now..
You didn't even needed the shrimp to start the cycle..
 
dnvrbrown

dnvrbrown

Member
well, got the rock today and it actually looks really well in my opinion, but I could be wrong. I expected it to be dry and/or smell bad but it was wet and seemed nice. Added it to my tank and keeping my fingers crossed.
 
kube

kube

Member
I would maybe consider getting a piece or two of live rock from the LFS if you can and add it the tank to help seed the rock that was sent to you if nothing else just to give your tank a little bio diversity
 
dnvrbrown

dnvrbrown

Member
how high would be way too high for an amonia spike? It went to 1.00 and I done a partial water change and got it to .50. I changed half of the water and that's all it came down. How long am I looking at before I start seeing it decline?
 
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