raw shrimp cycle method

Ed89

New member
so decided to go with the raw shrimp cycle....i put it in on friday I've been testing my water daily since then....as of today ammonia is at 2.0ppm,no nitrites but have nitrates at 5.0ppm....my question is whats my next step should i take out the shrimp or leave it in till i get a higher ammonia reading????hopefully you guys can help me out and let me know what should i do next....i haven't been running my lights at all i started to see a small diatom bloom on my sand bed and turned them off i haven't done any water changes yet...thx for looking hope you guys can help
 
1. That's not a bad spike. I'd give it another day and pull the shrimp. 2. Keep the lights off. It's useless to run them. 3. Ghost feed a little once a day. Just a small pinch. It'll keep your new bacteria fed and working. 4. Don't listen to anyone else. Lock the thread. BOOM!

Just kidding about number 4. This method has worked great for me every time I've set up a tank.

Oh...and beware of hijackers...

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I usually just leave the shrimp til it dissolves completely; that'll definitely give you the ammonia spike you're looking for. No need to run lights until you get some livestock. A test kit will let you know when your ammonia level is down and your nitirites go down/and nitrates are up. Do a WC then and you're ready to slowly add livestock. No need to rush anything.
 
Thx for the replies guys ill pull the shrimp out tomorrow and ghost feed like bb said...should I wait till ammonia and nitrite levels are at 0 and nitrates go up and do a water change??
 
Its going to go to zero when you pull the shrimp out. Pull it out when you have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites with it in there.

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so I've had the shrimp in there for a week already its stiil in there as of today...ive been testing my water everyday i had an ammonia spike up to 3.0ppm for 3 days then dropped today to .50ppm...nitrites went up to .25ppm for 2 days now today its at 0...today nitrates are at 20ppm....my question is did my tank cycle when ammonia hits 0 and nitrites hit 0 although i didnt have that high of a nitrite spike or did somthn go wrong...i haven't done anything to the tank other than top of water with ro/di water...also i have a fluvial c2 hob filter with just the poly/foam pad..
 
I must be doing something wrong. I pulled the shrimp out when ammonia hit 2.0 three weeks ago. still has not come down. this is for a 20 gal. qt. isn't this a bit long? top off only, no wc's.
 
I must be doing something wrong. I pulled the shrimp out when ammonia hit 2.0 three weeks ago. still has not come down. this is for a 20 gal. qt. isn't this a bit long? top off only, no wc's.

Please start a thread and I'd be happy to answer you.
 
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