Tank Set Up Time To Cycle, 5+ shrimp or only 1-2?

rastaangel

rastaangel

Member
I just finished setting up my 90g tank. All my temps, grav, and everythign have stabilized and are at a good point.
It has just over 70 lbs of live rock and 80 lbs of Caribsea Arag-Alive "live sand".
Now that its all in there I have to cycle but my question is would it be better to over do the adding alot of shimp to cycle like 5-6 and start with a strong bio load or would I be ok with 1 or 2 kicking it off?
Stock list is as follows:
FISH: 6 blue/green chromis (added first to stabilze tank), 2 Hippo tangs, 1 Purple tang, 1 White cheek tang, and 1 Black volitan lionfish. I know the chromis will be ate by the lion as soon as he gets big enough
CUC: 5 Astrea snails, 5 Cerith snails, 5 Margarita snails, 5 XL mexican turbo snail, 5 Large nassarius snails, 1 Sand sifter star, 1 Yellow brittle star, 15 blue and 10 yellow tip hermits, 1 Arrow crab, 1 Horseshoe crab, 2 Emerald crab, 2 black long spine urchins.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

I would use 5 Pieces of raw shrimp in a mesh bag or a stocking, easy to remove that way. Your wish/stock list is an absolute no, no.
…look to the left of the site page under reef packages to get an idea of what kind of CUC you will need for a 90g. Don’t get the CUC until you have the algae for them to eat or they will starve.
One tang is maybe too much for a 90g. a little one can be kept for a short time. You can’t keep two Hippo tangs in the same tank. A purple is not going to be able to stay in a tank your size, nor a white cheek and certainly not all at once. 2 diadema urchins in a new tank will absolutely starve and leave nothing for the crabs, hermits or snails to eat. Why buy a lionfish with the chromis just so they can be future lunch?
So while you are waiting for your tank to cycle, I am posting a picture of two books…let these be your very first “fish and invert” purchases. These books tell you what critter can get along with what, what they eat, and how big they will be when mature, and what size tank the can be kept in.
I also attached a page example for you to see what kind of onfo the books have in them.


 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
IMO I would opt to use 1-2 vs 5-6 raw shrimp. A big key to the hobby is patience and it's being rushed from the get go i my opinion, which watching the tank go through it's natural cycle with 1-2 shrimp you'll learn to use and read your test kits as well. Personally though I have never used the raw shrimp method, but 5-6 I think is honestly to much.
As far as your stock list......As Flower stated, so I won't beat the issue, but No on the 2 Hippos, and definitely not the Purple with the White Cheek. I had issues in my 240 with my Purple and a White Cheek. Needless to say the White Cheek found a new home......
 
mproctor4

mproctor4

Member
We cycled both our 120g and 29g with one shrimp. They both cycled in approx. the same amount of time and it went much quicker than expected. Personally I think 5-6 is overkill. Although I did get funny looks at the store when I bought one shrimp.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by mproctor4
http:///forum/post/3274553
We cycled both our 120g and 29g with one shrimp. They both cycled in approx. the same amount of time and it went much quicker than expected. Personally I think 5-6 is overkill. Although I did get funny looks at the store when I bought one shrimp.



That's me! I overdo everything!
The reason however isn't the time, it’s the amount of ammonia produced..the more ammonia, the more good bacteria that needs to grow to eat it, and convert to nitrates cycling the tank and getting it ready for life..The more good bacteria the better, my goal is to build the necessary good bacteria to sustain the new tank.
 
mproctor4

mproctor4

Member
I understand what you are saying about the ammonia and to estabilish the good bacteria. My point was (not to clear--lol) that one shrimp appeared to have the similar outcomes for two different size tanks. The 29 gallon had live sand (120g did not) and a much higher ratio of live rock than the 120g. I expected it would cycle quicker than the large tank, but it did not. The large tank actually cycled a few days sooner. Just found that interesting. I guess my real point is...don't rush things, it will happen when it happens. Even during the cycle there are interesting things to see---changes in algea (which is interesting when there is nothing else to watch) and little critters on your live rock. Get a magnifying glass and a flashlight---you will see all kinds of things you didn't know was there. We fight over the magnifying glass and flashlight in our house!! lol
 
robertmathern

robertmathern

Active Member
and now I answered Joes question. I will answer the OP's. As far a shrimp I have used this method many times. Add 1-2 and test your water if you think you need more add more. If you need less its a dead shrimp not like its hard to catch. REMOVE IT easy as pie
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
What about just ghost feeding your tank after adding 1-2 raw shrimp, will do the same affect plus it give you a chance to see if you have dead spots in the tank.
 
fretfreak13

fretfreak13

Active Member
I hate ghost feeding, IMO. Things get icky really fast, and you can't remove the nasty food after it's all disgusting like you can the shrimp.
In a 90, I think the purple tang will be fine, actually. IMO, they seem to stay very small for tangs. I'd think a much more realistic stocklist would be:
Purple Tang
A wrasse of some type
Lionfish
The Chromis, if you don't mind replacing them
Some type of butterfly
Maybe a Foxface
Even that might be too many fish, but it'll give you a better idea..
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Originally Posted by Fretfreak13
http:///forum/post/3275738
I hate ghost feeding, IMO. Things get icky really fast, and you can't remove the nasty food after it's all disgusting like you can the shrimp.
Point being if the food is collecting and turning to junk, then it's obvious that your tank doesn't have adequate flow inside, and it would show where you have dead spots since the food is collecting...Proper water circulation should keep the matter suspended in the water column so, it can be picked up by either your filter socks or media or skimmer.
 
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