Cycling with shrimp???

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ryshark

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Jul 25, 2007
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Location
Southern California
I am cycling a QT with shrimp. This is the first time I have done it this way, I cycled my first/main tank over a year ago with damsels and cured live rock. So here is my question which I should know the answer to.
I threw one frozen cocktail shrimp in my 10-gallon QT. The ammonia rose all the way up to around 3ppm and is now fallen down to 0 and the Nitrites are VERY high. (Now for the part I am probably over analyzing) If my ammonia is now 0 what is going to keep the ammonia eating bacteria alive? Do I need to add a pinch of food every day since I think that shrimp has disintegrated except for the shell? When using the damsels this was never an issue because the damsels always produced waste. Thanks.
 
Good question. Once the nitrItes hit 0 and your nitrAtes are up, do a PWC and add a pinch of food a few times a week to feed the bacteria. Do you have a filter on the QT?
 
Yeah, I have a BioWheel and some live rock rubble from my main tank. So basically I don't have to worry about my ammonia eating bacteria dying off with no ammonia until both of my spikes ammonia and nitrite are 0. Thanks.
 
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