Raw Shrimp

[madstyle1]

is there any other source besided raw shrimp to speed up the cycling process.
i have a 60 gallon tank with water and LR in there now no fish. the rock has been cycled at my LFS for almost a month. should i still put shrimp in the tank to get the bacteria going. pls advise.

i dont plan on putting any fish there for weeks. just want to make sure my cycle process is good.

 

[JoshsReef]

I personally didnt use the raw shrimp method on my 75. I would go ahead and add the lr, and throw a couple pinches of flake fish food in there as well. That should start a cyle imo. You need to see a spike and decrease to 0 in ammonia and nitrite. Once you see that test nitrate, do a 50% water change, make sure ur nitrate is under 20 ppm and add a fish. Just remember to do it slowly.

 

[madcaptains]

I never used shrimp for that. when I set up a new tank, I simply wait of use a good bacteria starter

 

[SaltWaterNewb]

I always used the shrimp method and it works well. You can also ghost feed or buy some 100% pure ammonia and add that to the water to start the cycle.

 

[SaltWaterNewb]

Ok, I just re-read you post. So the rock is cured and came straight from your LFS to you tank with little to no time out of water? If so, how about the substrate? Sand I assume and was it LS or not? If it was LS then you are pretty much good to go. Your tank will probably not cycle or it will be such a small and fast cycle you will likely miss it. Keep in mind that the bacteria colony is pretty small at this point since there is not really any bio-load in your tank so you need to add livestock slowly to allow the colony to make the adjustment without kicking off another cycle. You can build the colony and maintain it until you add livestock by ghost feeding or by one of the other methods described above.

 

[austinsdad]

I recommend the shrimp. Either that or uncured live rock. Anything that's dead and decays in order to get the ammonia up. What's wrong with shrimp for you?

I personally don't like those bacteria in a bottle approaches.

Have you been watching the ammonia? What's the highest reading so far?

 

[cmor1701d]

How much cured LR did you get?
How long has it been in the tank?
Have you fed the tank (e.g. pinch of flake food) since getting the LR?

ASSUMING you have 90-120 pounds of LR that has been in your tank for less than week, and was out of water for less than a few hours, then you may have a cycled tank. That assumption needs to be tested. A SMALL cocktail shrimp should show a very small (negligible) rise in ammonia, then nitrite, then nitrate if any at all. A couple pinches of flake food could be substituted. If you see no rise over the course of a week you should be able to start adding livestock.

That would mean that you can setup your QT tank now. Get a sponge filter or biowheel etc. and put it in the main tank to get the bacteria growing there. You should leave it there for a week and make sure the tank is fed (a pinch of flake food every 3 days). After a week you can complete the QT tank setup with the filter and add your first fish. Just add 1 or at most 2 fish a month till you reach your max. You can add a clean up crew (inverts) as soon as you know the tank is cycled.

 

[madstyle1]

ok, i do have live sand on there now about and inch or inch and a half. i only have 6 pieces of live rock (15 pounds) didnt have enough money for the required. As soon as i do i will get more. i havent tested for ammonia, or nitrite yet will do that this weekend. and will change 50 % water next week.

the rock have been sitting there for only two days today will be third. it was only kept out of the water for an hour max when i was setting it up. then i put it back in. i do notice the rock having some red stuff on it. not sure if thats a good sign of bacteria growing.

like i said before i wont put any livestock on there yet for a couple of more weeks.

 

[austinsdad]

You need to see what the ammonia is. You could be cycling now is there was any die off on that rock. Now, if that rock is perfectly cured already and not causing any spikes at all, it could be possible that you have bacteria already on the rock. In that case, you'll have to put some fish food in there every other day to feed the bacteria on the cured rock.

But I'm thinking that 15 lbs in a 60g might not be enuf to sustain too much other life/fish.

I'm guessing that if the rock isn't full of visible life, just go ahead and add the shrimp, be ready with the ammonia and nitrite test kits and let if cycle. Be a good time to add some good ole cheap base rock too IMO.

 

[madstyle1]

well im seeing red stuff now on the rock that i didnt see before when i first put in there. ill do the shrimp then, if not would fish foo pellets work instead of flakes

 

[austinsdad]

Just do the shrimp and cycle. Don't worry about the pellets or any other food for a while.

 

[JoshsReef]

Imo 15 pounds of lr in a 60 gallon tank just wont cut it. Before adding fish I would look at Liveaquaria.com. You could get some standard or premium figi rock at a decent price which could easily get you into the 40-50 pound range. I would add the rock with your existing rock, you will defiantly see a cycle with it, and then go from there.

 

[cmor1701d]

Order a box Reef Rock or other base rock. It will become LR (coated with bacteria) during your cycle. 15 pounds of LR just is not enough to handle the bio load of a stocked tank. It would be fine for 1 fish, but you're going to have to add more rock sooner or later. Might as well add a bunch of base now and let the tank cycle with that and the bit of LR you have.

Don't plan on a PWC untill you have added much more rock and gone through a proper cycle.

What other equipment do you have?
Do you have a sump or a wet/dry filter?
Please list everything.

 

[madstyle1]

heater at 76 degrees
rea sea prizm skimmer
live sand of inch an a half
15 pounds of live rock

 

[madstyle1]

so i just wanted to give everyone a follow up.. i did put a piece of raw shrimp in there.. so hopefully its starts to cycle soon.. like i said earlier i will get my test kits in a day or two

 

[bigjoeybx]

ok, i do have live sand on there now about and inch or inch and a half. i only have 6 pieces of live rock (15 pounds) didnt have enough money for the required. As soon as i do i will get more.



You should really get more rock in there. Go to ebay and look for reef rock. You can get a 50lb box for $50. Real nice pieces also very pourous.

 

[madstyle1]

im definitely going to get get more rock.. ill take a look into reef rock. but i just got back to my LFS and bought my test kit and here are the results. Ammonia = 0ppm, Nitrite = 0ppm, Nitrate = 0ppm and PH is @ 8.2

 

[JoshsReef]

is the shrimp decaying? how many shrimp? I would have thought you would have seen a spike exspecially since you dont have that much rock.

 

[madstyle1]

the shrimp turned light orange like its being cooked..i just put it in last night.. should i give it more time. i heard it takes about 3 to 5 days