# cycling process



## McFishin' (Oct 8, 2008)

Hey, I've heard of throwing an unseasoned, uncooked, dead shrimp from the store into a brand new tank to kick start the cycling process in freshwater tanks. Will this work for salt too? I don't see why it wouldn't, but I thought I'd ask anyway.


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## 55bldparrot30 (Jan 12, 2009)

yes ,if you would like to add parasites and fungus to your tank before you even thought about buying a fish. Decaying food and carcus only infest your water. NOT such a good idea.


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## McFishin' (Oct 8, 2008)

I know that decaying food and dead animals are bad for the water normally, but I thought things like that were needed in the beginning. I'm really just looking for another method besides using a live fish to start the process. Is there anything other then using a live fish, live rock, or live sand?


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## Kellsindell (Sep 15, 2008)

That is perfectly fine. Many people suggest that over LR and using a fish to cycle. It's now the preferred way of starting the cycle, so you did good.


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

dead shrimp will do the trick, however adding some live rock will jump start the cycle itself as there is die off coming from that.


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## McFishin' (Oct 8, 2008)

The thing is, I don't really have the money to buy LR at the moment, but I wanted to get the cycle going. I haven't put the shrimp in yet because I wanted to see what you guys thought first. It seems a majority agree with the shrimp, so I'll do it. Do you guys know if bubbles can enter a siphon in another way besides a crack in the tube?


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