raw shrimp?

i've seen a few post referring to addition of a shrimp prawn to speed up my cycle...I'm on day 8 and nitrates are around 20ppl....i started with 30lbs live rock and 20lbs live sand....so do i just throw a defrosted shrimp prawn from grocery store in and wait, how long?....I'm impatient but doin good not addin anything til its ready, but i was hoping to speed the process up naturally and would snails or shrimp or somethin else help.....

 

You could use the shrimp approach or you could purchase damsels, Clownfish, Grouper or even a Lion fish, however these may not be a good idea due to the type of tank you wish to portray and the livestock you plan on adding down the road, not to mention removing the smaller, quicker fish if you plan on changing plans fishwise.
Good luck to you!

 

Hi Brian

just to add to coral reefers contribution

there are 2 options open to you when starting a new tank to get it cycled and ready for further additions

method 1 - introduce fish that are hardy enough to withstand the water quality issues that arise when there is not yet enough bacteria to process the wastes - Coral reefer has provided some idea on fish types and indicated that tank size plus later (will they eat my cleaner shrimp issues ) need to be taken into account when going this route

method 2 - introduce a dead shrimp or prawn, let it decay, bacteria will be generated and you tank will cycle

both methods do require patience before further additions are made

12 weeks is a general guideline between adding a Yellow tail blue damsel (I say YTB Damsel as I like YTB Damsels) and the next fish

the dead prawn or shrimp method - in all honesty - I dont know how long you need to wait for further additions as I have never used this method

Steve

 

You are now about to mess up if you continue with the idea it can be rushed or sped up ):

You may well wind up in the leaking boat yourself ? Good luck

http://www.3reef.com/forums/new-hobby/brooklynella-nitrite-ammonia-poisoning-64398.html

 

There is no speeding up the process--only different ways to approach it---JMO!

 

dont waste your time with the shrimp.... i tried it and nothing happened! but thats just my tank. all tanks vary from setup to setup.

 

Dont do the shrimp thing, its not a good idea. You can create a cyanobacteria problem with decaying organic matter.

If you have live sand and live rock, thats more than enough to cycle your tank. Just need to give it time.

 

agreed!

 

I know it's so hard to wait and be patient! I wanted to put something "alive" in the tank so bad I couldn't stand it!

We used a small piece of raw shrimp, but probably didn't need it with the LR and LS - I took it out after a few days and let the natural cycle do its thing.

 

Try to cycle on rock or sand if you can. The only way I'd add something is if somehow I DIDNT get the initial ammonia spike.

That's never actually happened to me.