transferring RC shrimp to new tank, is my cycling plan a good one? or doomed to fail?

[the-chad]

ok... so i have 15 or so cherry shrimp in a 4.5 gallon. I am setting up a new 10 gallon tank to transfer them into, and will be adding 20-30 more shrimp in the near future.
i have read several times that shrimp do better in established aquariums so i have sort of a plan to get this new tank going... please let me know if im going to be making a mistake:

im buying new substrate (black) for the new setup. and will run a new filter while
borrowing a few goldfish for a few days from a friend to help cycle it. i also plan to use a healthy amount of "Nutrafin Cycle".
After a week or so, i plan to remove the goldfish, and introduce my shrimp. But first, i will move all plants, and rocks from the existing shrimp tank to the new one, as well as doing a large water change where i plan to transfer most, if not all of the water from existing tank to the new one, and adding the filter media from old filter into the new one as well.
After i have "bagged" my shrimp and begun to slowly acclimate them to the new tank, i was planning to scoop up the old substrate and put most of it into a nylon stocking(s) and place these into the new tank for a 2-3 weeks to hopefully transfer even more of the beneficial bacteria.
within a week of transferring my shrimp i will be adding 20-30 more.

Is all this too much too fast? or will it work without catastrophic shrimp loss?

yes i know that patience is best key to success, but unfortunately, i have none.

 

[Oohitsae]

the goldfish, honestly, will do nothing to help you cycle that fast.
the nutrafin might....but the BEST way to cycle fast, is to get old cycled filter media from someone you know and running it in the new tank's filter along with the nutrafin. You can do that, add a handful of established substrate and decor and that'll literally help you cycle the fastest. Can you maybe borrow your friends filter media instead of golfish??

If you added the goldfish to a 10 gallon, I think you'd just be subjecting them to torcher. NOT trying to be mean at all, but they are pretty much the dirtiest fish there is, and need a TON of w/c's to keep ammonia down. PLEASE DO NOT USE THEM FOR CYCLING!

If you do as I suggested with the established media, a handful of established substrate, and decor from an established tank, you should be able to cycle within a couple weeks.
RCS are delicate shrimp. They dont produce a lot of ammonia, but they are VERY sensitive to spikes in ammonia, nitrItes, and trAtes. Please be patient with the cycling process.

 

[bud29]

I have had RCS thrive in a 4-day-old tank - they do better in established tanks because there is more algae and biofilm to munch on, so I would just try to feed them prepared foods as the tank matures.

Using goldfish to cycle it would overload the tank - I recommend either using seeded media from the filter of an established tank, or if you are dead set on doing a fish-in cycle, use a smaller, less messy fish.

And, just for the record, RCS are not some of the most sensitive shrimp out there - they actually are one of the most hardy - but still you should put them in a cycled tank. If you want sensitive shrimp, check out OEBT's or Taiwan bees. They are leaps and bounds more sensitive than any RCS.

 

[Oohitsae]

I never meant it as RCS are the most sensitive shrimp out there, I am aware they are hardy. What I meant is shrimp in general are very sensitive to water parameters. I've had shrimp trying to escape because I ran a couple days late on a w/c during vacation once. Came back and everyone was at the surface. That's in a established shrimp only tank.

 

[bud29]

I never meant it as RCS are the most sensitive shrimp out there, I am aware they are hardy. What I meant is shrimp in general are very sensitive to water parameters. I've had shrimp trying to escape because I ran a couple days late on a w/c during vacation once. Came back and everyone was at the surface. That's in a established shrimp only tank.

Yeah, but still I have found them equally hardy to say, my Bolivian Ram (which some call 'bulletproof') so I really don't think water parameters or anything would be an issue in a new tank. Honestly IMO the only issues would be lack of naturally occurring food, and that problem can be easily overcome by just feeding prepared foods (They love blanched spinach).