Cycling w/Shrimp

[blane1983]

I placed a table shrimp in my tank to help soike the ammonia levels to cycle and was wondering how long I should leave it in there for.

[blane1983]

also there are some things that have appeared on my rock that look like little feather dusters. What are these and whats their purpose. Hope that's not a dumb question just trying to learn as much as possible

[teacampuzano]

those aren't dumb questions. I left my deli shrimp on the tank until it spiked my ammonia, the reason being is I had bristle worms coming out to munch on them. After the spike of ammonia, nitrates and nitrites will eventually go down until they reach zero on your water tests or you can even take some water samples to your local fish store to tell you where in the cycle you're at. It's beneficial to keep a log on your water parameters.

Some people frown on shrimp because you don't know if they contain some sort of contaminant from the deli, you can also use fish food to start your cycle. My tank took about a month to fully cycle, don't rush it, this will help your tank develop much better in the long run.

As for feather dusters, they're good, they're simply filter feeders. Good luck, don't be shy on asking questions!:shades:

[Big_Pun]

the rock I gave you was full of feather dusters those where the white spaghetti looking stuff on the rock

[blane1983]

Shrimp in tank for 5 days now and still no ammonia spike. What is going on? The shrimp is almost all gone and I have yet to get any reading of ammonia. Im not sure whats going on. Any advice?

[recoiljpr]

Shrimp in tank for 5 days now and still no ammonia spike. What is going on? The shrimp is almost all gone and I have yet to get any reading of ammonia. Im not sure whats going on. Any advice?

Are you sure your test kit is good? I had one a while ago (nitrate though) that had a bad reagent. I thought forever I had 0 Nitrates, turned out I had around 25. Have you taken it to a LFS or used another reefers kit for verification? I wouldn't go out and buy a new one, but take a sample by the LFS first.

[Mr Cob]

Possibly your sytem is supporting the shrimp decay....especially since you have a bunch of filter feeders...?!?! You have macro algae too??? And live sand? Live rock? Did you use all established stuff???

[blane1983]

UPDATE! I finally got an ammonia reading tonight from my tank. The ammonia level was .3 so should I remove the shrimp now or leave it and let the ammonia continue to rise? Sad that I'm excited to get an ammonia reading but means I'm getting somewhere.

[teacampuzano]

leave it, but clean it out before it dissolves too much and its too difficult to clean (if not you may get bristle worms munching on them too). Congrats on the ammonia spike, definitely be patient, it's better to have the ammonia up now than later when you have livestock in it...

[blane1983]

ok its been 24 days since my tank has been cycling. I did end up putting a shrimp in there and after 9 days there is no sign of it at all. I have tested the water every few days with the following results.
8/13/2009 - ammonia 0, nitrite 1, nitrate 4, ph 8.1, sal 1.026 alk 4.5, temp 80
8/16/2009 - ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 4, ph 8.0, salinity 1.024, temp 80 alk 4.5
8/20/2009 - ammonia .5, nitrite .5, nitrate 10, alk 5.5, salinity 1.025, temp 80
8/24/2009 - ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10, ph 8.1, salinity 1.024, alk 4.5, temp 80

The ammonia and nitrites are now at 0 so is it ok for me to start adding livestock. Water change? And should I had my cleaning crew first, fish, or corals first? And also any ideas on cleaning crew for a 29 biocube? thanks

[recoiljpr]

I would try to get your alk up a little more (I am assuming 4.5 is dKH)? If so, with an alk that low, your ph is going to swing like crazy. I'd get some 2 part supplement and just dose a few ML a day (5 ml or so) of the alk part till your closer to 8-10.

As to a cleaning crew, for a biocube nerite, cerith and nassarius are good snails for the tank and won't get really large. I'm also a fan of a few blue legged hermits as long as you have some extra shells for them to go to.

Do you have any algae or diatoms growing in your tank yet?

[blane1983]

i have some green algae and not sure about diatoms? how many snails and crabs should i get? what about shrimp?

[recoiljpr]

I would hold off on the shrimp, they tend to be not as hardy to new tanks. Id wait another month or two on them.

As for snails, once your alk is stabalized, i'd go to start with 5 Caribbean Nerites, 2 small nassarius and 3 crabs. I'd then wait and see how well they keep everything maintained. If after a few weeks you think you still need to add, i'd add the cerith snails. Having different types of cleanup crew enables you to have good coverage.

[Kyle46N]

Like someone already asked....what did you start with in your tank? Live Rock? Live sand? This can keep your tank from having a full cycle.