starting the cycle

[molsen187]

i added my saltwater to my tank today and now i'm just waiting for the sand to settle a bit. my question is can i add the shrimp before all the sand settles down or should i wait until its all calm in there before adding the shrimp?

 

[reeferpj]

live shrimp? if so slow down let it cycle

 

[molsen187]

oh no sorry should of been clearer. i'm talking about the deli shrimp that you can put in to start the cycle. should i wait til the sand dies down before i put that in or is it ok to put it in now.

 

[Takara]

I don't think it matters..

 

[afboundguy]

You shouldn't need to add some shrimp but it would provide extra ammonia to kick start the cycle...

 

[molsen187]

i figured i should add the shrimp since nothing is really live in the tank. the sand is argonite and the rock used to be live but it had been awhile since it got wet. i soaked it in hot freshwater a week or two ago and let it dry out in the sun until the past couple of days when i set up the tank. i figured there would be minimal die off so i should add the shrimp. just wasn't sure if i could add the shrimp to the tank before everything settled down which it is doing nicely.

 

[reeferpj]

where are you located if you need a cup of live sand

 

[molsen187]

i'm in plaistow. another memeber here is going to give me some for some of the leftover sand i have. thanks though.

 

[RayD]

I'm not a big fan of rotting food to kick a cycle.

Try Bio-Spira (sold at Jay's or AA). That would kick start it nicely.

 

[Jocko]

Yeah I've never really felt like one should "kick-start" the cycle. I like to add some live sand and rock and let that sit for a bit. Then slowly just add living organisms that you want. A small bump in bioload and then you give the bacteria some time to catch up. Do it in small enough increments and over enough time and you'll keep your tank's cycle in pretty decent balance as its maturing.

The thing with throwing a dead shrimp in there is it creates this artificial environment that doesn't bear any resemblance to how your tank will ultimately be. Throws everything WAY out of balance. So I view it as counter-productive. I'd rather take my time and just slowly adding living creatures.