Using a shrimp to cycle a new tank?

[Albertchoi81]

Will using a raw shrimp as an ammonia source create an artificially high bioload that will create a bacterial colony that is unsustainable when I introduce just a few fish?

I currently have a newly set up 75 gallon tank with dry rock and live sand. I dosed the tank with microbacter XLM to introduce nitrifying bacteria and added a raw shrimp last night. I'm not sure how long I should leave it in there. I'm worried about creating too many bacteria and then have the tank crash because I won't have enough fish to create the ammonia needed for the colony.

 

[Albertchoi81]

I’m sorry, I realized I should have posted to the new to the hobby forum

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Not to worry just leave it there until ammonia starts to drop then use flake food sparingly.

 

[bertoni]

A tiny piece of raw shrimp is fine to make sure that there's some organics to feed the new bacteria. I would consider maybe a ⅛" cube, unless I was planning a lot of large fish all at once. Most live rock has enough debris on it to get a crop of bacteria, in any case.

 

[Sk8r]

I don't even use a shrimp. I just toss in about 4-5 flakes of fishfood a day until I spike ammonia, and continue a week after, to make sure the ammonia is going away. It'll take time after your first snails and fish for the bacteria to coat not just the surfaces, but to spread out in full maturity, but if your ammonia is disappearing, that's what it has to do.

 

[rayjay]

I prefer using ammonium chloride to get the ammonia to 3-4ppm. After cycle appears to be done, I challenge the system by adding more ammonium chloride to get 2 to 6 ppm depending on the load I am going to place on the system right at the start. If the ammonia clears overnight then I'm good to go.