Cycling with Shrimp

[Hunter1998]

Sorry if I'm in the wrong forum but couldn't decide where it would be best to post this.......
With that being said I'm setting up my tank after letting it sit for a year and a half. My tank was used previously for a year before we moved and all I salvaged was the rock and sand so everything is dry and dead. The rock was just dead base rock to begin with.
My tank is 210 gallons and I'm in the process of filling it up as I type with RO/DI water. 50 gallon per day unit so it's going to take a few days lol. I was wanting to do the raw shrimp cycle but can't seem to find information on how many and what size shrimp to use for this method. It's just going to be a FOWLR setup. I got plenty of base rock and not looking to go buy more rock.
Any information would be greatly appreciated, thanks for the help.

 

[Neptunes World]

Shrimp gonna be stinky. IMHO, use ammonia and you can start by poring a teaspoon in at a time until you get a reading. Chances are, if you use your old rock and sand, that will make its own cycle. With that said, use just enough to get a small little change on the test kit now and the cycle should follow a cycle like a double hump camel back. Time frame? Could not tell you that.

 

[Hunter1998]

How long do I wait between each teaspoon for testing?

 

[Agu]

I'd skip the shrimp and ammonia. I'd also get at least a little bit of live rock or rubble to seed the tank with the appropriate bacteria. Once the tank is up and running add the live rock and start "ghost feeding" small amounts of fish food or small chunks of seafood daily to feed the bacteria. Bacteria grows at an amazing rate in the proper environment. You'll probably have a cycle from your old rock but once it's cycled you'll have a healthy environment for your fish.

 

[Neptunes World]

How long do I wait between each teaspoon for testing?

Long enough for it to circulate in the tank. Your testing for ammonia and your dosing ammonia, thats the first step. Once you get a reading of low ammonia, then wait for the nitrates.

Fish food works, but, you have to "wait" for the food to decompose. I dont have that much time.