Cycling Question

[Everett Adams]

I am in the process of cycling my 120 gallon tank.

I have 50 pounds of LR and 3 shrimp to get the cycle going, The water is very yellow is this normal? Im not running a protein skimmer and have no media in my Canister filter was told to keep just lr rubble and base rock rubble in it

Thanks in advance

 

[Mrc8858]

Did you put the shrimp in any kind of media bag or something like it

 

[Everett Adams]

nope just threw them in a corner of the tank they are just sitting there but you can tell bacteria is starting to eat them

 

[Mrc8858]

That could possibly be tinting your water I can't think of anything else that would cause that

Edit* might be a stupid question but your water isn't yellow before you put it in the tank is it

 

[Everett Adams]

anyone else please!!!!!!!!

 

[Bruce_Nicaise]

Is your tank brand new or was it a used tank? Did you clean it with anything prior to the start of your cycle?

 

[Everett Adams]

Tank was used cleaned with fresh water no chemicals water was crystal clear before cycle

 

[TeamTrash]

Do you not have anything in your canister filter other than rubble?

 

[Everett Adams]

Just lr rubble was advised to take all other media out of the filter

 

[TeamTrash]

Really? Now, I'm fairly new to this, but as far as I understand during the cycle the point is to build up good bacterial in your filter. If you just have rubble in the filter then where's the bacterias supposed to attach? I would at least have some ceramic rings (for the bacterias to grow on) and floss (to catch gunk - these should be rinsed every so often) while cycling. I also kept activated carbon in mine during the cycle to reduce the amount of times I have to mess with it. Also, I cycled with a dead shrimp and my water was crystal clear. Cycling with only rubble and then adding ceramic or resin rings later seems counterproductive, no??

 

[Mrc8858]

Replacing your media with rubble is perfectly fine the BB will grow on the rock

 

[spoonman]

I agree, lr rubble is same as media. BB will grow on it. I would wait out the cycle and then address the water issue. You will have to do a big water change when the cycle is done anyway. I would get a media bag and put the shrimp in it now though. When they decay they will make a mess. That way you can just pull out the bag when the cycle is done. If you want to mess with the filter you could probably put some floss or carbon in it to fix the water color issue.

 

[TeamTrash]

I agree, lr rubble is same as media. BB will grow on it. I would wait out the cycle and then address the water issue. You will have to do a big water change when the cycle is done anyway. I would get a media bag and put the shrimp in it now though. When they decay they will make a mess. That way you can just pull out the bag when the cycle is done. If you want to mess with the filter you could probably put some floss or carbon in it to fix the water color issue.

Interesting - I had no idea you could just use rubble. Learn something new every day

 

[spoonman]

BB will grow on any surface. The more porous the better. LR rubble is very porous and an excellent surface for BB to grow.

 

[Everett Adams]

Do you think 3 big shrimp is too much for a 120 gallon tank thats what i have in it at the moment

 

[cerulean_blue]

not sure if this was resolved already, but make sure you use raw shrimp, not cooked