Using a shrimp to cycle a new tank

[INNEED]

Plus 1 on skene also a dirty filter pad would work shrimp also....

 

[Master Shake]

there are different types of bacteria that do different things. Granted there is bacteria on/in everything but there are way better ways to cycle a tank than adding raw shrimp(besides the fact that wild caught shrimp now have oil, mercury and other harmful chemicals in them thanks to...well people, which i dont want in my tank) Cyano is a form of bacteria but that is not beneficial to a tank. Adding a filter pad or lr or live sand is a much safer, faster, easier way to cycle a tank without the smell of rotting fish. The raw shrimp being biologically broken down gives you the ammonia which gets oxidized into nitrite then into nitrates. If you do the other ways it skips the first to oxidation states or at least jump starts them kinda like doing a burnout in a car then releasing the breaks

do not add anything in the tank if the tank itself has a minimal amount of bacteria.
A fish... no. A crab... no. A snail... no.

Would you ever want to live in a house that has no walls, no heat, no bathroom?
No. Will it keep you warm and dry? No. Because it would not be an ideal environment for living. The same concept applies for any livestock. Putting them in a tank where there is no bacteria, would be like rehoming a lobster in a pot.


And Master Shake... no offense but how do you not figure that bacteria is not on a dead shrimp? Ever gotten diarrhea from poorly cooked food? That's because airborne bacteria start colonizing on food. This is why it is essential to thoroughly cook food.
Why does a shrimp assist in colonizing bacteria? Because 1 it's from the ocean, even thought you purchase it from supermarket, its laid on ice and out of water moisture from within and any residual water that is trapped within the shrimp itself will come out and start to feed on that shrimp.

 

[basiab]

This thread has lots of opinions on what to do. And some have misinformation.
I will suggest that you search here as well as on wetwebmedia.com for articles on cycling and then make a decision how to do it. You can ask your LFS but unless you know them to really be knowledgable they are just another opinion.

 

[fishman1069]

This thread has lots of opinions on what to do. And some have misinformation.
I will suggest that you search here as well as on wetwebmedia.com for articles on cycling and then make a decision how to do it. You can ask your LFS but unless you know them to really be knowledgable they are just another opinion.

+1 The best way to do anything in this hobby, is to do a ton of research and make an educated decision.