Live Sand to start a Cycle

how long do you leave the shrimp in for? Isn't that thing going to stink to high heavens? And does a frozen piece work or does it need to be fresh? Trying to figure out how I am going to start my cycle with base rock and dry sand, what do you suggest?

 

i went with the Caribbsea Fiji Pink Aragonit Live Sand

 

im not sure if the shrimp you use has the be fresh or not. I would think that a frozen piece would thaw and rot just like a fresh piece???

 

once it starts to turn in the tank youll know to take it out. Thing here is be patient, even when you get zeros across the board from testing give it another 2 weeks and re test just to make sure about everything. My next tank im goign to let it go uninhabited for 3 months before I add any livestock all I can say is I got very very lucky with my tank and will def not do the noobie mistakes again.

It doesnt matter if fresh or not, it has to rot to start a cycle just like if you decided to pee in the tank your trying to start a live cycle and it needs the ammonia to trigger it.