Has anyone ever used the method of putting a cocktail shrimp in their new tank to start a cycle? I will be using a majority of base rock and very little live rock (due to money) and I was reading online that there is a method of placing a cocktail shrimp in a pantyhose type sack into your aquarium to start the cycle and help build up "good" bacteria. This was the safer alternative to placing a live fish in your tank during the cycle. This is suppose to help put off ammonia and start the cycle. Is this something anyone has done or has heard of? Would people suggest this or would you say even though I don't have much live rock I should still just let the tank run as is?
Let the tank run as is... The whole shrimp method is just to get something in the tank to make ammonia. Just about anything will do this and I have a feeling a whole shrimp is a lil overkill. I have started a cycle on a lil tank of mine by doing nothing but adding a lil flake food a day and letting it rot.... Same principle.
Fisher12 and I talked about this a few days ago actually, a shrimp tail is all you need to get it going. With out putting damsels through the cycle, and then having to deal with them after everything is done.
two really good article related... http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/fis ... arium.html http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/jus ... -tank.html No reason to use a live fish to cycle a tank, when a deli shrimp will do the same thing.
Who is Lee Birch - the author of "The Mature Aquarium" post above... if interested. http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/fis ... eebca.html
I did this in my 90 gal and it worked great. I started with 40lbs of LR. You will want to put in some crabs to clean it up after it cycles. Do not try to remove the remains manually. You will never get the smell off your hands
This is an old and proven method to start a tank with new rock and substrate. I think you have a more natural and stable bacteria base when you use organic matter such as shrimp or even some frozen mycid. The use of a couple pieces of established live rock and a few cups of substrate from as many other established tanks as possible is very beneficial. The more diverse the bacteria source the better. Hope this helps, just remember there is no substitute for time. Don't get in a hurry.
