"shrimp" cycle question

NewObsession

NewObsession

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Aug 27, 2007
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For the "shrimp in tank" route for cycling, I have a couple of quetions.. sorry if they seem stupid.

1.Does it have to be shrimp? Let's say hypothetically ( long story) you had scallops. same? Different? different make up? It seems that since people also suggest just putting in food flakes, anything breaking down would give you the ammonia wouldn't it?

2. how long would it take to start breaking down enough to feed "good" bacteria. I grabbed some of the filter media out of my pond but am concerned the "good guys" will starve and die off before there is enough breakdown to sustain the cycle

On a related note, I has also thought about dropping in a water hyacinth out of the pond that was starting to look a little ragged since the season is about over, but not sure if that will help promote things, or simply absorb what ammonia is produced and therefore prolong the bacteria growth
 
if the bacteria is good bacteria ;)
you should be able to stock immediately..add the hyacinth and they pull more 'crud''

you should 'hypothetically ' be fine:eek: :grinyes:
 
you would have to have quite a bit of established bacteria in order to do that. and even if all of your media was pre-established, i'd run a trial period before i put fish in it.
i would assume that any seafood would work equally well. we use cocktail shrimp because they are simply steamed or boiled and have no seasoning, no oils, no other products that may mess with the cycle or have adverse effects on the fish.
 
Well, the media is not IN the filters yet, still sitting in bag of pond water, just two or the cylinders from the pond filter because there is nothing else for bio media in the filter that came with the tank setup. I'll scoop some hyacinth and put one in each tank next chance I get, as I said , I was more concerned that there wouldn't be enough wate to feed .
One last thing, do they ned to be in the filter with moving water or could you not do the same thing simply by dropping them in the tank?
 
silentskream said:
you would have to have quite a bit of established bacteria in order to do that. and even if all of your media was pre-established, i'd run a trial period before i put fish in it.
i would assume that any seafood would work equally well. we use cocktail shrimp because they are simply steamed or boiled and have no seasoning, no oils, no other products that may mess with the cycle or have adverse effects on the fish.
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actually no, if you have a good source of bacteria you can add fish immediately.
it is the same as using good bio spira.

if you have the source there (like an established running tank) you have an almost unlimited source for bacteria..
 
What I have ( or access to) is 2 full bags of the bio media from my pond which has been running all season. I only brought home ( pond is at parents) 2 tubes ( doughnuts? penne? lol ) or whatever you call them because I just wanted something to put into the filter. In reality I could dump half of each bag ( they are about 5" diameter mesh bags in a pressure flo filter) into each 10 gallon tank.. along with a hyacinth each
 
and yes HisNewLove that would mean fish tonight.. theoretically.. if all these nice people agree.... and if that means you want to go buy fish tonight ;)
 
to make sure we are talking apples and apples.. when I refer to bio medai, I am referring to the ceramic like tubes rom the pond filter. Kinda like bio spheres, but different set up
 
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