# when to remove shrimp in a fishless cycle?



## Liepold (Mar 14, 2012)

I'm new to this forum so hopefully this is the right page to ask questions if anyone has an answer!

I have a new 3 and a half foot fish tank (153 litres) and I'm currently doing a fishless cycle. It's in the second week. I have some frozen shrimp in a pantyhose and the ammonia jumped to about 6 ppm over about 10 days. A few days ago the Nitrite jumped to 0.50 ppm and today I tested for nitrates and it's around 20 ppm.

As I see nitrites and nitrates raising the ammonia isn't dropping. My question is when should I remove the decomposing shrimp? Does it all seem to be on track in the cycling process? It's the first time I've tried a fishless cycle and hope it's on track.

Thanks


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Welcome to Tropical Fish Keeping forum.:-D

I've never gone the shrimp cycling route (I use live plants, another story), but other members have so I'm sure some of them will be along to comment. In the interim, have a read of this guide to cycling written by one of our members and stickied at the head of this section, but here's the direct link:
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/...inners-guide-freshwater-aquarium-cycle-38617/
This method is included.

Byron.


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## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

Liepold said:


> I'm new to this forum so hopefully this is the right page to ask questions if anyone has an answer!
> 
> I have a new 3 and a half foot fish tank (153 litres) and I'm currently doing a fishless cycle. It's in the second week. I have some frozen shrimp in a pantyhose and the ammonia jumped to about 6 ppm over about 10 days. A few days ago the Nitrite jumped to 0.50 ppm and today I tested for nitrates and it's around 20 ppm.
> 
> ...



I did the exact same thing, and was told here, that once I started getting the ammonia reading, I could remove the shrimp. There is enough ammonia to get the cycle started, you don't need to leave it in any longer - it gets pretty gross:-D Good way to cycle! 

Gwen


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## Liepold (Mar 14, 2012)

Byron said:


> Welcome to Tropical Fish Keeping forum.:-D
> 
> I've never gone the shrimp cycling route (I use live plants, another story), but other members have so I'm sure some of them will be along to comment. In the interim, have a read of this guide to cycling written by one of our members and stickied at the head of this section, but here's the direct link:
> http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/...inners-guide-freshwater-aquarium-cycle-38617/
> ...


 
Thanks Byron!  The article was very helpful - thanks for the link!


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## Liepold (Mar 14, 2012)

*fishless cycle*

Thanks Gwen! Glad to know you have sucessfully done the same fishless cycle! I took the shrimp out today. Now that the Nitrite is 5.0 ppm and the nitrate is about 50 ppm, does the nitrate need to get any higher before it starts decreasing?

Do I need to keep adding ammonia?

Thanks,

Tonja
(liepold is my fish)


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## Liepold (Mar 14, 2012)

Sorry Nitrite is 5.0 ppm


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## ladayen (Jun 21, 2011)

NitrAte will not generally decrease on it's own. Thats when you gotta do a water change.

Seems your tank is well on it's way through the cycle. I dont think you need to add any more ammonia source. Just do water changes to keep the nitrAtes down below 20 and then when ammonia and nitrItes are 0 you can start adding in fish.. I would recommend adding slowly.


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## Liepold (Mar 14, 2012)

ladayen said:


> NitrAte will not generally decrease on it's own. Thats when you gotta do a water change.
> 
> Seems your tank is well on it's way through the cycle. I dont think you need to add any more ammonia source. Just do water changes to keep the nitrAtes down below 20 and then when ammonia and nitrItes are 0 you can start adding in fish.. I would recommend adding slowly.


Thanks Ladayen,

Good to know I'm on the right track! 

Do I need to wait until the ammonia and nitrities go to 0 on their own before doing a water change to decrease the nitrAte?

Tonja


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## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

Liepold said:


> Thanks Gwen! Glad to know you have sucessfully done the same fishless cycle! I took the shrimp out today. Now that the Nitrite is 5.0 ppm and the nitrate is about 50 ppm, does the nitrate need to get any higher before it starts decreasing?
> 
> Do I need to keep adding ammonia?
> 
> ...


Bryon may know more about this. Once you start getting nitrates, the cycling process is usually finished, but because you have nitrites, which are really deadly to fish, I suggest patience at this point. Eventually, the nullifying bacteria will get in big enough numbers to handle converting your high nitrites over to nitrates (which are safer in low numbers). You probably can do a water change to begin lowing some of those numbers. Let's see what Bryon says on this one :-D 
When did you start this process, by the way? 

Just saw the other posts too. Good info there. No, don't add more ammonia.

Gwen


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## Liepold (Mar 14, 2012)

Bryon may know more about this. Once you start getting nitrates, the cycling process is usually finished, but because you have nitrites, which are really deadly to fish, I suggest patience at this point. Eventually, the nullifying bacteria will get in big enough numbers to handle converting your high nitrites over to nitrates (which are safer in low numbers). You probably can do a water change to begin lowing some of those numbers. Let's see what Bryon says on this one :grin: 
When did you start this process, by the way? 

Just saw the other posts too. Good info there. No, don't add more ammonia.

Gwen 


It would be good if I could start doing water changes! I started the process 12 days ago. Ammonia took over a week to jump really high. Nitrites were on 0 until the 8th day and have been increasing steadily since then. A few days ago nitrates started showing and is around 50 ppm at the moment. 

Thanks for the info! Yes I appreciate all of the helpful answers and info! It's been a bit confusing until I heard back from people!

Tonja


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

You need to keep going until both ammonia and nitrites are zero for consecutive days. Nitrates will be showing, and at this point (zero ammonia and nitrite) do a major water change. I would add some fish then, right after the water change. The shrimp having been removed as previously suggested.

The water change should be just that--changing much of the water. No substrate cleaning or filter cleaning, as hard surfaces are where the bacteria live, and while you wouldn't likely dislodge them you might.

Monitor ammonia and nitrite after introducing the first fish.


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## Liepold (Mar 14, 2012)

Thanks! 
Already the ammonia is dropping! Thanks for your advice. I'll continue to monitor the ammonia and nitrite and then do a water change!


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## Liepold (Mar 14, 2012)

11


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## Adamson (Feb 5, 2012)

Ugh yeah I did it once, I had 3 big raw shrimp in my 30 gallon for a few days, I was reading a lot of ammonia, so I took them out and put a few gold fish in there (with Prime and Stability), it all worked great, the tank was cycled in just a week!


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## Liepold (Mar 14, 2012)

Adamson said:


> Ugh yeah I did it once, I had 3 big raw shrimp in my 30 gallon for a few days, I was reading a lot of ammonia, so I took them out and put a few gold fish in there (with Prime and Stability), it all worked great, the tank was cycled in just a week!


Good to know it's a successful method, even though it looks and smells disgusting! I was surprised at how quickly ammonia and nitrites showed up!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Adamson (Feb 5, 2012)

Liepold said:


> Good to know it's a successful method, even though it looks and smells disgusting! I was surprised at how quickly ammonia and nitrites showed up!
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Yeah definitely. Only thing I didn't like was that I had a piece of driftwood in there, and having the shrimp in there gave it this nasty fungus all over it! I have a little video of it, you might want to check it out lol.


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## Liepold (Mar 14, 2012)

Adamson said:


> Yeah definitely. Only thing I didn't like was that I had a piece of driftwood in there, and having the shrimp in there gave it this nasty fungus all over it! I have a little video of it, you might want to check it out lol.
> 
> What is this clear stuff, algae? - YouTube


 
Wow! Yes, that is truly disgusting!! Good video! I haven't yet put the driftwood in yet but that same foul white fungus is floating around in my tank after I removed the shrimp that it was clinging to. lol


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## Liepold (Mar 14, 2012)

*A successful fishless Cycle!*

Thank you to everyone on the site (as well as the advice and helpful tips on the site) who gave advice about how to do a fishless cycle with frozen shrimp! Today my two fish are happily swimming in the new cycled tank!!

It took 3 weeks to the day I began cycling for the levels to be perfect! The Ammonia and nitrite went from very high levels and then decreased to 0 and nitrate showed up! After a water change the nitrate is at a good level and the pH is perfect with no ammonia or nitrite at all! So far, my fish are happy little vegemites and I hope it stays that way but it's all looking good for now!! 

It's a great feeling  

Tonja


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## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

Adamson said:


> Yeah definitely. Only thing I didn't like was that I had a piece of driftwood in there, and having the shrimp in there gave it this nasty fungus all over it! I have a little video of it, you might want to check it out lol.
> 
> What is this clear stuff, algae? - YouTube



Adamson -that's a fungus that is very common and can grow on Mopani wood. Many of us who've had that wood had the same problem. I and others will tell you it's harmless. When I kept snails (Mystery) they ate it right up, as I learned they would do. Byron has not had good experiences, and he pulled his wood. To be safe, I've done the same and would never buy the wood now. If your shrimp were on it, they were probably eating and enjoying it :-D 

You can pull it out and boil it, and try putting it in again. If you keep snails you won't have a problem. If you have fish in the tank, it would probably be best to not use it. 

Gwen


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## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

Liepold said:


> Thank you to everyone on the site (as well as the advice and helpful tips on the site) who gave advice about how to do a fishless cycle with frozen shrimp! Today my two fish are happily swimming in the new cycled tank!!
> 
> It took 3 weeks to the day I began cycling for the levels to be perfect! The Ammonia and nitrite went from very high levels and then decreased to 0 and nitrate showed up! After a water change the nitrate is at a good level and the pH is perfect with no ammonia or nitrite at all! So far, my fish are happy little vegemites and I hope it stays that way but it's all looking good for now!!
> 
> ...


Tonja,

So glad it worked out for you!! Congrats! Do you have pictures of your tank we can see?

Gwen


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## Liepold (Mar 14, 2012)

GwenInNM said:


> Tonja,
> 
> So glad it worked out for you!! Congrats! Do you have pictures of your tank we can see?
> 
> Gwen


Thanks Gwen,

I added some pictures on my profile! They're not that great due to my camera not working but it shows the tank. I only have 2 plants and one driftwood so I still need to add more plants for the fish!


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## Tazman (Jan 15, 2012)

Welcome to TFK as well.


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## Liepold (Mar 14, 2012)

This link may work!


http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/members/36185/album/fred-liepold-3569/new-fish-tank-23510.jpg


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## Liepold (Mar 14, 2012)

Liepold said:


> Thanks Gwen,
> 
> I added some pictures on my profile! They're not that great due to my camera not working but it shows the tank. I only have 2 plants and one driftwood so I still need to add more plants for the fish!


This link may work

http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/members/36185/album/fred-liepold-3569/new-fish-tank-23510.jpg


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## Tazman (Jan 15, 2012)

Like the tank, who makes it? Has a nice look to it with the silver edging.

Driftwood is great, overall the tank looks really good. Only thing I would suggest possibly, is add a little more darker substrate, not a lot, just to contrast and bring out the fishes color more. A small bag would work perfect.


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