Starting my cycle?

[lazuruskfp]

I am starting to cycle my system this week and had a few last min questions...
1. I have my parameters stabalized salinity, ph ect all with RO/DI water... and I am awaiting a shipment of LR (cured or so they say). Should I get live sand as well to cycle with the LR or should the LS be added after the cycle completes?
I only ask because the book I have says to add sand after curing rock within the tank as bacteria/organisms might die in the sand otherwise... but the faq page suggests cycling LS/LR at the same time.
2. Is the shrimp necessary for the cycling process?... when LR is present after all it will die off and produce ammonia. If the shrimp is added to speed up the process and produce adaquate ammonia for the bacteria growth when should it be taken out? (what ammonia level reading should I be shooting for?
Thanks again guys... my process has been a rather painless one thanks to this board

 

[rcdude1990]

hello
i am right now in my first week of my cycle
IMO i think u should cycle ur tank wit the LS in the tank, thats how i did it
my LS had some special Bacteria in it that will keep my bioland stable so thats y i cycled wit LS
for ur second question im not really shore wat to do
heres my expirience:
i put my LS, LR and 2 damsels in side of my tank to start the cycle
from reading other boards on this fantastic site people say to put a piece of cocktail shrimp in the tank to speed up the cycle
but the piece of shrimp is mainly food for the pods that r in ur LR(i think)
now i put the shrimp in my tank and waited 3 days
durin the three days the piece of shrimp never was touch, moved, or eaten by anything
during the three days the shrimp started to do somthin that looked very wiered
the piece of shrimp was being covered in a clear/white coating, like a bubble of some sort
i posted it on this website and ppl said tha the piece of shrimp was rotting!!
after i read that i went to my tank, lifted the cover and smelled the water
the smell was brutal, like a really bad smell i cant even compare it to anything
so i instantly removed the piece of shrimp. while removing it i smelled the piece of shrimp and i almost threw up into my tank. now my water smells really good, like salt water. so IMO dont put it in
hope i helped

 

[hot883]

If the live rock is being shipped to you it will have die off on it and will be excellant for cycling a new tank. Scrub off the obvious sponges etc. with sw and a brand new tooth brush and then place in the tank. I like to put my lr in first and then the sand as it will be more stable resting on the true bottom and not on sand. Rock touching the bottom glass is fine and is actually better than having an avalanche and rock breaking out the front or side glass as it falls over.
The shrimp is NOT for pods to eat. It is to rot and create the bacteria in the tank that you need. If you use lr and ls then you will not need the shrimp to cycle.

 

[lazuruskfp]

Thanks for the quick replies...
So the LR/LS should be enough to cycle the tank on its own?... would it be safer to add the shrimp so that the amount of ammonia is huge so I won't have bio load problems later when I start adding a few fish.
The way I have understand the bio/chemistry behind 'cycling' the goal is the foster the growth of bacteria that break down ammonia... so wouldn't more ammonia ie shrimp decay foster more bacteria growth and allow for a more stable tank environment?
I just don't want to add a few green chromis after the cycle ends and find out I didn't get enough bacterial spawns and have my ammonia spike again.
Once again thanks for the help guys