Jimmy may have overdone it a bit on the shrimp...lol...3 weeks of stink?
Not necessary. The original idea of using the shrimp was to leave it in there only
until the ammonia level spiked (like a day) , and then take it out and throw it away... as far as possible!!
That original creation of ammonia then causes the correct types of bacteric to grow & muiltipy..and thereby causing your 'cycle'.
You need to let that cycle progress naturally..which means
no water changes, only 'top off' - water with no salt in it.
You want to be testing every day or two (or more often if you are truly being a noob reefer
)..and watching your cycle progress. A
tiny pinch of flake food every 3 days will keep the growing bacteria fed along with any critters that might have come in on your live rock.
..and leave the lights off during the cycle too.
..and Jimmy - usually a bad idea to remove a post that was appropriate at the time... aside from making people think they've lost their minds, it ruins the continuity of a thread...(if we think it's really out of place/line , we will remove it for ya
thx!
