[rpadgett37]

Can you cycle a shrimp tank the same as a tropical fish aquarium (silent method for me), or is the process more shrimp tank specific?

 

[The Trigger]

Nope same process. Just gotta make sure that once it's done cycling, the parameters are suitable with whatever shrimp you plan on keeping.

 

[Higher Thinking]

It may be the same process to cycle a tank, but a cycled tank isn't ready for shrimp like it is for fish. Tanks that house shrimp need to have a good amount of bio film established on them. You can cycle a tank almost instantly with established media, but the tank won't have the necessary maturity to house shrimp. A good tank for shrimp has been running at least a month, preferable two.

 

[jrill]

Well that's interesting, but that has not been my experience.

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[starlett]

If u intend to use gravel, try grabbing some from established tanks to speed up cycling together with matured medias. If u use alll new soil/gravel, the cycling process will be longer.

 

[GBRguy]

a lot of people let the tank mature I while and get good amounts of biofilm on stuff. the shrimp need stuff to eat besides the food you give them. that's were the biofilm comes in. personally I let my two tanks go for 3 months before I put shrimp in them.

 

[The Trigger]

Stability I feel is more important than anything else, especially if you plan on housing the more sensitive and expensive varieties of shrimp. Once you're 100% sure the cycle is finished, I'd add some cheapie shrimp as a test to ensure there are no spikes or shifts in the parameters. What kind if shrimp are you planning on keeping?

 

[rpadgett37]

Stability I feel is more important than anything else, especially if you plan on housing the more sensitive and expensive varieties of shrimp. Once you're 100% sure the cycle is finished, I'd add some cheapie shrimp as a test to ensure there are no spikes or shifts in the parameters. What kind if shrimp are you planning on keeping?

Sorry for the delayed response.

I am planning on keeping Tiger shrimp. Sulawasi shrimp later

For letting the tank sit for a bit to allow bio-film to develop, are there issues I would need to watch out for to avoid new tank syndrome? It will be planted, have a sponge and HOB, and I will be using under substrate bacteria... undecided on the particular brand at this point. Will likely use Seachem Stabillity with if appropriate.

The substrate will be part Eco-Complete and part sand (aquascaping plan).

And good advice on transplanting bio media from an established tank. By the time I set this one up, I will have this from my betta tank to bring in.

For the cycling, I am planning to do a silent cycle; however, in the description, it doesn't mention any water changes as another member of this forum mentioned. The instruction I read say start with 5ppm of ammonia. When nitrates show up, let it drop to 3ppm. Then maintain at this level, or at 1ppm twice daily, until ammonia and nitrates drop to 0 in a 24 hour period. Is there a better, or more appropriate, method for doing this?

Something else I don't know. Once the tank is cycled, if you are going to let the tank mature, do you continue to add ammonia that is processed to maintain that cycled balance or will the bacteria and plants alone sans fish or shrimp be just fine? Does the bio-media need this to keep from dying off or is it just fine without a continuing ammonia source?

 

[Grah the great]

Tiger and Sulawesi shrimp have VERY different requirements, so you might want to have a different 'canary' species to check if this tank is hospitable to shrimp. Malawi shrimp from Sulawesi are much sturdier than most of their brethren and yet prefer similar conditions, so they might not be a bad canary, even if they are a bit more expensive than tiger shrimp.

 

[rpadgett37]

Tiger and Sulawesi shrimp have VERY different requirements, so you might want to have a different 'canary' species to check if this tank is hospitable to shrimp. Malawi shrimp from Sulawesi are much sturdier than most of their brethren and yet prefer similar conditions, so they might not be a bad canary, even if they are a bit more expensive than tiger shrimp.

I meant in different tanks I am assuming Ghost shrimp would make a good test shrimp?