half way ..... i think

princess

Fire Eel
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Apr 13, 2007
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so i think i'm half way tru my cycle..... my water is testing at

ammo:2.0
nitrate:80
nitrite:4.0
ph:8.2

they are all pretty high i'm glad there's no fish inside!

so i put a shrimp in it when it first started ....it smells really badly now been in about 20days its turned black lol i was wondering should i take it out now?

so my question is what will happen next?
:D
 

sweeTang21

Feeder Fish
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Mar 10, 2007
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I would take it out now. bacteria will form to get the ammonia down and the cycle will go forth. Test the water everyother day to see progress and then when your at zero do a small waterchange. What are you using for filtration?? what size is the tank?? are you using tap water for RO/DI water??
 

cichlidman1888

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Mar 16, 2006
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as he said do small water changes with RO water. " the gallon drinking water jugs you can buy at walmart"! Your levels should go down ... let me know how its doin!!
 

princess

Fire Eel
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Apr 13, 2007
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there is no walmart here hunny lol .......its 15 gallon..i dunno about the filteration it came with the nano reef tank lol ummmm i'll take it out tomorrow :D

i'll do the water change when it goes to 0..........i have read lots of book....just wasnt sure when to take the shrimp out
 

Predator 1

Gambusia
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Jan 15, 2008
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In the early days of Marine keeping, we used dead Cockles or a whelks to seed our systems. But we never removed them, it was just as if we were trying to squeeze every last drop of bacteria out of them! It is refreshing to see the younger generation still employing these methods, rather than pouring in chemicals non stop. What you are doing is the natural way. So, by all means leave the shrimp in for a while longer. The smell by the way, is a positive sign (if you can tolerate it) the cycle is in full swing, judging by your readings. Good luck!
 

chicken_boy_Kurt

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Jan 15, 2008
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Predator 1;1517942; said:
In the early days of Marine keeping, we used dead Cockles or a whelks to seed our systems. But we never removed them, it was just as if we were trying to squeeze every last drop of bacteria out of them! It is refreshing to see the younger generation still employing these methods, rather than pouring in chemicals non stop. What you are doing is the natural way. So, by all means leave the shrimp in for a while longer. The smell by the way, is a positive sign (if you can tolerate it) the cycle is in full swing, judging by your readings. Good luck!
I thought she meant she put a live shrimp in to start the cycle.
 

sweeTang21

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Mar 10, 2007
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Predator 1;1517942; said:
In the early days of Marine keeping, we used dead Cockles or a whelks to seed our systems. But we never removed them, it was just as if we were trying to squeeze every last drop of bacteria out of them! It is refreshing to see the younger generation still employing these methods, rather than pouring in chemicals non stop. What you are doing is the natural way. So, by all means leave the shrimp in for a while longer. The smell by the way, is a positive sign (if you can tolerate it) the cycle is in full swing, judging by your readings. Good luck!

I agree in all terms, but I still say take it out, and let the levels start to fall a bit, do a small waterchange and add a clean up crew so you can keep feeding you beneficial bacteria. The only problem i see with this situation is the usage of certain water. Leaving this shrimp in the tank until ammonia is up too the max then this will also cause the nitrate to sky rocket. My concern is that it will be hard to get the nitrates down with tap water. By taking out the shrimp now, the levels will start to level off at a lower reading and be easier to maintain. You will have to stock at a much slower rate but this is recommended anyways so whats the harm. back to topic, Short after this you should see algae starting to grow. When this stage happens then you will be in pretty good shape. Algae will go away on its own, but it does not hurt to do some water changes as well.

As far as water goes, any grocery store should carry distilled water at the least. This water is still far superior to plane tap water. Tap water is loaded with ammonia, phosphate, nitrate, silicate and so on. Obviously not the best for keeping algae down and keeping water in check as it is ever changing.
 

princess

Fire Eel
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Apr 13, 2007
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lol well i'm just confused now!

the shrimp is dead....it was raw but now its cooked!....and black...ewwww.
i'll take it out and see what happens. i am getting worried that the nitrate is gonna keep going up and up! its maxed out now so i have no idea if its gonna keep going ....i'll just take it out and see what happens
 

sweeTang21

Feeder Fish
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Mar 10, 2007
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princess;1519386; said:
lol well i'm just confused now!

the shrimp is dead....it was raw but now its cooked!....and black...ewwww.
i'll take it out and see what happens. i am getting worried that the nitrate is gonna keep going up and up! its maxed out now so i have no idea if its gonna keep going ....i'll just take it out and see what happens

if you read my most recent post you will see that, that was my concern as well. I still say take it out. There will be no down fall in doing this. Controlling nitrate in some circumstances is really a pain in the butt. Nitrate can get higher then what your test kit will read. If it gets higher then 500ppm then you should probably remove all the water and just start over. This is the exact reason why i never suggest leaving the shrimp in the tank for that long. remove it and let things level out while there low and just take your time stocking like you normally would anyways.
 

Cappuccino

Feeder Fish
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Feb 11, 2007
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sweeTang21;1518644; said:
I agree in all terms, but I still say take it out, and let the levels start to fall a bit, do a small waterchange and add a clean up crew so you can keep feeding you beneficial bacteria. The only problem i see with this situation is the usage of certain water. Leaving this shrimp in the tank until ammonia is up too the max then this will also cause the nitrate to sky rocket. My concern is that it will be hard to get the nitrates down with tap water. By taking out the shrimp now, the levels will start to level off at a lower reading and be easier to maintain. You will have to stock at a much slower rate but this is recommended anyways so whats the harm. back to topic, Short after this you should see algae starting to grow. When this stage happens then you will be in pretty good shape. Algae will go away on its own, but it does not hurt to do some water changes as well.

As far as water goes, any grocery store should carry distilled water at the least. This water is still far superior to plane tap water. Tap water is loaded with ammonia, phosphate, nitrate, silicate and so on. Obviously not the best for keeping algae down and keeping water in check as it is ever changing.
I would definitely leave the shrimp in there and let it decay naturally, you really don't want to speed up the cycle process. I know it's hard and you want to get some fish in there ASAP, but in the long run it will be more than worth it if you can just that it cycle in its own time.
 
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