Next Step?

[ozorowsky]

Ok so I have lighting on the way my salinity is at 1.023; I'm getting some more base rock tonight and going to add it to my tank; I threw 3 raw dead shrimp in from the supermarket last night.

How long should I let the shrimp sit in there for? What is my next step before adding any type of fish?

Thank you.

 

[mr_X]

some let the shrimp dissolve. i just wait until there is a good amount of ammonia present (via a liquid test kit). you would then have to wait untill the ammonia was converted to nitrite, and then nitrate. that's when you would do a water change or two to remove the high nitrate, and then you can slowly add livestock.

 

[ozorowsky]

some let the shrimp dissolve. i just wait until there is a good amount of ammonia present (via a liquid test kit). you would then have to wait untill the ammonia was converted to nitrite, and then nitrate. that's when you would do a water change or two to remove the high nitrate, and then you can slowly add livestock.

Thank you. Approximately how long should I expect this process to take? A day a week a month?

 

[Kio707]

Mine took about 3 weeks

 

[ozorowsky]

Mine took about 3 weeks

EEEK! Is shrimp the wrong way to go about this? I'm not trying to be impatient, 3 weeks is longer than I anticipated though.

 

[hackteck]

it could take upto a month no one knows how long it will take every tank is different

 

[Kio707]

Mine took about 3 weeks

 

[mr_X]

you HAVE to wait until the cycle is over, or you will kill fish.

 

[Kio707]

I used LR with a sump.

 

[carey]

I used live rock and pure ammonia for my first build. Due to having excellent live rock from an already established system I cycled in about a week. BUT every tank is different so it could easily be a couple weeks either way.

Good luck!