crister13
Aquarium Advice Addict
Leave until the cycle is complete. Any shrinp with no additives is fine.
crister13 said:Leave until the cycle is complete. Any shrinp with no additives is fine.
DanS180 said:Okie dokie sounds good, will I have to do any pwcs with a fishless cycle? I've always done fish-in cycles with my freshwater tanks
CorallineAlgae said:Considering you are cycling a 12 gallon FOWLR tank without a skimmer you could just use 1/2 a shrimp or a small one... let it decompose, and only worry about doing a water change at the very end of the cycle.
You may still want to put in some live rock (or base rock) while it cycles to let it build up bacteria on and in the rocks pores. If the live rock you eventually get is uncured it could make it's own ammonia spike and mini cycle (especially because your tank is small and skimmerless). You may have an easier time adding it in during your cycle just in case it causes you any brief issues later. Not a necessary step, it's just standard practice.
crister13 said:Oh and if you haven't, put the shrimp in a net. That way once the cycle is complete you can just remove it without a problem and it won't cause a mess in your tank.
crister13 said:1-1.5 pounds per gallon would be you best bet. The reason being live rock actually helps filter the tank ALOT, and without it your going to need to beef up your filtration system. And it looks cool .
crister13 said:You won't overcrowd it. It kind of balances itself out. The more rock, the less open swimming space, the more hiding places and weaving through the rocks. I would get atleast 1 pound per gallon.
DanS180 said:Ok I only bought 10 pounds but its a decent amount bc it covers most of the bottom and if I decide to add corals down the line, I'll have more room. Instead of buying the regular live rock, I bought reef ready liverock, I'm gonna try n upload pics from my phone but I don't know if it'll let me. Let me know what you think!
CorallineAlgae said:Here's the problem with some, but definitely not all reef ready live rock; it's mostly made of concrete, so you don't get nearly the same amount of internal filtration from the rock as real live rock. Generally a 10lb piece of reef ready rock is smaller than a 10lb piece of live rock. You are still going to need at least one other piece of live rock to "seed" the piece you have. Another issue is water displacement. Live rock displaces less water than many man made rocks so you loose water volume. in a larger system it isn't much of an issue but in a small tank it means something.