Should I add a 2nd shrimp to Cycling Tank?

[DarkHorseMBA]

Ok I don't think my tank is ready for CUC yet. The tank is either SLOWLY cycling or did a mini cycle of sorts.
I don't have live rock and the live sand's life was questionable to me, so the shrimp might have been the only source of ammonia. I've posted my tank log again with updated numbers from today.

Screen shot 2010-10-30 at 4.19.41 PM.jpg

Ammonia "peaked" at 1.0 and is slowly dropping, today it's .25.
Nitrite is 1.00 has been there for 6 days.
Nitrate is 15, the color looked between 10 & 20.

Unless 1.0 is a good peak for ammonia I'm leaning toward adding some source of ammonia. I can't seem to find the bottled stuff so it might be another shrimp or a small CUC if this would be okay after looking at my water parameters.

Any one know what might be going on with my cycle? Any additional advice?

Thanks for all your help.

DarkHorseMBA

[DarkHorseMBA]

I did not think that 1.0 ammonia was enough. Added shrimp to the Refugium, I'll leave it there until I see a real spike.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jroescher]

My opinion:

DO NOT ADD ANYTHING!!!


Hint: Everyone's telling you not to.
It's going to cycle on it's own. Anything you add is only going to extend or increase the cycle. The object is for the cycle to end. Since you've added more shrimp, expect another cycle to come again.

And after you think the cycle is finished, expect to see various algae blooms. It has to go through it's own process, and if you try to speed it up, your going to cause problems later on.

[DarkHorseMBA]

Well I added another shrimp because the ammonia only peaked at 1, and that did not seem like a complete cycle. Maybe the shrimp was too small, a truly shrimpy shrimp :-)? I also figure the bacteria need something to feed on.

To be honest I was getting mixed advice, so adding an ammonia source made the most sense.

What would be considered a peak level for ammonia?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ballardjr2000]

IMO DON'T ADD anything else. MY tank is cycling on its own and i added othing to "start" the cycle i have a 90g that i had to break down and now its cycling back on its own again. I diddn't have to add anything my amonia is spiking at 1 1.25 tops and doing fine.

[DarkHorseMBA]

IMO DON'T ADD anything else. MY tank is cycling on its own and i added othing to "start" the cycle i have a 90g that i had to break down and now its cycling back on its own again. I diddn't have to add anything my amonia is spiking at 1 1.25 tops and doing fine.

What would cause a sterile tank to cycle? Would a ammonia reading of 1.0 be considered peak?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Regric25]

[QUOTE]To be honest I was getting mixed advice, so adding an ammonia source made the most sense.[QUOTE]

I don't mean to come off frustrated but everyone on this thread including me has said NOT to add anymore shrimp.

Yea like I said before DO NOT ADD ANYTHING TO YOUR TANK. Let it cycle on its own. There is no "peak" for ammonia. Sometimes if there is little die off your cycle wont be that big and if there is alot then it will be bigger. All you are doing to your tank is causing your tank to cycle over again by adding another shrimp. Just leave your tank alone for 3 or 4 weeks and let it do its thing. I know its hard and you are really excited but the worst thing you can do in this hobby is rush things. Take your time this hobby demands patience for success. Trust me after it cycles and you take your time the reward will be very good. DO NOT ADD ANYTHING ELSE!

[DarkHorseMBA]

At the behest of the group, I'll pull the shrimp" and just let tank sit. "Pull the shrimp", that sounds weird :-).

I'ts not that I'm in hurry, as I said there will be not live stock added until after Thanksgiving weekend any way.
I just want to make sure that when I do add live stock, that the tank is ready.

Thank you everyone for your help and patience.

DarkHorseMBA

[Regric25]

okay sounds good. By taking the shrimp out you might have saved your tank from another cycle. Remember each time you add something dead likt that in your tank to rot you are basically setting your cycle progress back. In turn it causes your livestock target date back. You might be okay with adding your first livestock to your tank after thanksgiving but i would keep your eye on parms. Ammonia should be 0, Nitrites should be 0 and you might have LOW readings on Nitrates you can rid that or keep it down with small 10% water changes weach week AFTER you add livestock. You don't have to feed the bacteria...

The main purpose of a new tank cycle is when you add liverock and livesand the die off from that will cause a cycle and that could harm your livestock. The amount of die off your sand and rock has makes the size of your cycle. There is no way to measure that though except testing water. small amonia "peaks" does not mean its cycling but that it could be a small cycle. Adding shrimp to help it cycle is like saying "you want the fire to burn out on its own but im going to help it burn out faster by adding gas to it".

So my advice is let it ride. Take out the shrimp and let it just do its thing. In 3 weeks if your parms are in check then add a fish and CUC.