feeding the cycle with shrimp

I'm actually hoping the cycle drags out a bit as I really want to add more live rock before the cycle ends.

I'm curious to know what those things crawling around were. I wonder.
 
Lucky Lefty, with all due respect to Scott3569, some people think you *should* do water changes during your cycle, and lots of them. http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2009-04/newbie/index.php

Lucky Lefty said:
Whatever is going on, I love it.

Frogdog, I just wanna see her try on the pair I just cut the foot off of.. That would be too funny. I'd have to say something clever like "shrimp got your foot?"
Thanks.
Click to expand...

Lucky Lefty, I think you are my new best friend. Right after Snorvich. You should become a "premium" member here so you can have a blog and tell us all about your reef adventure in great detail. :wavehand:
 
if you are going to add more live rock you need to add it..and you can drag out the cycle as long as you want just keep replacing the shrimp, an at some point you would have to add more shrimp to get an ammonia spike..

they may very well be pods but im not sure I know I got pods right at the end of my nitrogen cycle..but you just started
 
frogdog said:
Lucky Lefty, with all due respect to Scott3569, some people think you *should* do water changes during your cycle, and lots of them. http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2009-04/newbie/index.php



Lucky Lefty, I think you are my new best friend. Right after Snorvich. You should become a "premium" member here so you can have a blog and tell us all about your reef adventure in great detail. :wavehand:
Click to expand...

I have always seen don't do water changes during you cycle..if I am wrong cool..I am still learning
 
scott3569 said:
if you are going to add more live rock you need to add it..and you can drag out the cycle as long as you want just keep replacing the shrimp, an at some point you would have to add more shrimp to get an ammonia spike..

they may very well be pods but im not sure I know I got pods right at the end of my nitrogen cycle..but you just started
Click to expand...

You don't have to keep adding rotten shrimp. You can ghost feed or use pure ammonia to maintain some sort of ammonia. I don't know about you, but 1 time is enough for the wife. Unless you added pods, they were always there. Maybe not in great numbers to notice.
 
scott3569 said:
I have always seen don't do water changes during you cycle..if I am wrong cool..I am still learning
Click to expand...

Due to ammonia, nitrites are in the water columns. Rid the tank of these and you will stall the cycle. Water change at the end of cycle to bring the nitrates down and replenish trace elements for future residents.
 
scott3569 said:
I have always seen don't do water changes during you cycle..if I am wrong cool..I am still learning
Click to expand...

Depends.... If you are starting with live rock then the purpose of water changes are to keep ammonia and nitrites at a level that wont kill as many of the beneficial critters that rode in on the rock. This will lengthen the cycle but supposedly with fewer casualties. Starting with dead dry rock then no need to change water till the tank is established, nothing to kill. Several large water changes when the initial cycle is well over to export the excess nitrates. That's the way I understand the argument anyway.
 
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I will look into the water change while cycling theory a but more. Pretty cool to know that even that I had a rocky start, something survived. I looked at Bodybag as soon as I woke up and the stocking was COVERED with those tiny bug like creatures.

Frogdog, that's a great idea about the blog. Not sure if you saw my original thread in the "new to the hobby" forum but check it out. It's title " a noob learning the hard way" or something close to that. I detailed the beginnings of my fish tank adventures.

Thanks all for the advice. Keep it coming!! Thanks again.
 
Lucky Lefty said:
I will look into the water change while cycling theory a but more. Pretty cool to know that even that I had a rocky start, something survived. I looked at Bodybag as soon as I woke up and the stocking was COVERED with those tiny bug like creatures.

Frogdog, that's a great idea about the blog. Not sure if you saw my original thread in the "new to the hobby" forum but check it out. It's title " a noob learning the hard way" or something close to that. I detailed the beginnings of my fish tank adventures.

Thanks all for the advice. Keep it coming!! Thanks again.
Click to expand...

either way, sounds like you headed down a better road, just research everything before you do it..I am sure you will be fine..I am quite excited myself with the progress I have made, I have learned a ton!! I am also able to read through these forums all day if I want(workers comp).
 
Thanks again, I feel like I'm in the right direction here. Really falling in love with my tank. I can only imagine what it's going to be like to have fish. The pods that are everywhere, will they eventually become food for my future fish? Could these be copepods?

If so, is there a way to harvest these things for feeding? They must be hardy to survive this far so I can't imagine it would take a complicated setup. I've been wrong before though.

Now, I'm off to plant a money tree in my backyard because I want... Need a bunch of stuff for my tank.
 
Just checked levels after 24 hours with Bodybag in the tank.
They appear to be identical to yesterday.
Ph 8.2
Ammonia .25
Nitrite .1
Nitrate .25 - 12.5

Will check tomorrow and then every other day from there.

Man, a blog would be great, huh.

After another look, wife says ammonia looks more like .5.. Can't wait to check tomorrow.
 
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Hey you are on a roll! Just think of all the joy a single shrimp can bring into your life.

:love2:
 
Hey Lucky, how long did you keep the shrimp in your tank? I threw a piece in my tank to jumpstart my cycle, and it brought the ammonia up a smidge after less than a day. It has just started to discolor after 24+ hours, and I have tons of the little white critters going to work on mine too.

I wish I had gotten into this ten years ago. What a blast it is!
 
You've got lots of good info and advise on how to kick start the cycle. So I will add some non-cycle info. It's a very bad idea to steal your wife's stockings or anything else for that matter in order to support the tank. Unless of course she willingly offers it. And in that case, it means she is reef safe and you are one lucky guy! I read the body bag part and had a good laugh. It would appear you are both in this together! That's awesome, keep it that way.
Good luck with the tank.
 
oh207 said:
You've got lots of good info and advise on how to kick start the cycle. So I will add some non-cycle info. It's a very bad idea to steal your wife's stockings or anything else for that matter in order to support the tank. Unless of course she willingly offers it. And in that case, it means she is reef safe and you are one lucky guy! I read the body bag part and had a good laugh. It would appear you are both in this together! That's awesome, keep it that way.
Good luck with the tank.
Click to expand...


Hahah, she really is the greatest wife ever, and reef safe haha!
 
Dustin Thompson said:
Hey Lucky, how long did you keep the shrimp in your tank? I threw a piece in my tank to jumpstart my cycle, and it brought the ammonia up a smidge after less than a day. It has just started to discolor after 24+ hours, and I have tons of the little white critters going to work on mine too.

I wish I had gotten into this ten years ago. What a blast it is!
Click to expand...

Bodybag has been in for a few days now. 4 I believe. I check my levels the day after, and then skipped a day and checked yesterday. My levels didn't really change much as of yesterday, which is why I didn't record my resting results here because I was bummed about it.

Bodybag is still in there. Cannot see what it looks like though because of, well, his body bag (black nylon stocking). There is a photos in my earlier posts of this thread.

I think I've figured out that this point right here during the cycle, is the part everyone has been stressing to me about one thing... PATIENCE. I'm just acting like I own a rock tank right now, a lousy and underweight rock tank, but a rock tank that may one day develop all the parameters I need for fish.

I don't mind the wait. It makes it all worth it.

Happy reefing dude. Welcome to the club.
 
Oh yea one more thing.

In my research over the past couple days, I believe I've narrowed down the type of pod in my tank. I'm pretty sure they are Harpacticoids.
 
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