How to Cycle a Shrimp Tank: Establishing a Healthy Nitrogen Cycle
Cycling your aquarium is the most important thing to do when keeping any aquatic organisms. Thus it’s also necessary to cycle your shrimp tank.
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Why is cycling an aquarium important?
Well, because if it isn’t done properly it will cause massive amounts of stress and even death for your shrimps.
An aquarium is basically a mini ecosystem so there is a lot more elements involved then just adding water to a glass bowl. What you actually need is an adequate amount of beneficial bacteria. Yes you read that right, you need bacteria in your aquarium. These bacteria will actually become your best friends.
Firstly, I’ll teach you about the nitrogen cycle and then I’ll show you how you can start this cycle for a new aquarium.
The nitrogen cycle in an aquarium
The journey starts with the introduction of nitrogen compounds, like ammonia (NH4), into the water. This happens when your shrimp and their friends produce waste (poop), or when uneaten food and other organic matter is left. Ammonia is toxic to shrimp and other aquatic life, so it must be converted into a less harmful form.
Bacteria known as nitrifying bacteria perform this conversion. The first type of nitrifying bacteria, Nitrosomonas, convert the ammonia into nitrite. Nitrite is also toxic, but a second type of nitrifying bacteria, Nitrospira, converts it into nitrate, which is much less harmful. It so happens that plants love this nitrate and uses it to grow. You can remove any excess nitrate from the water by doing regular partial water changes.
In a well-established and properly maintained aquarium, the nitrogen cycle should be self-sustaining. Where the bacteria continuously convert nitrogen compounds from one form to another. However, an imbalance in the nitrogen cycle can occur when the levels of ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate become too high. This can be caused by overstocking the tank, overfeeding, or not performing regular partial water changes.
Cycling a shrimp aquarium
There are two ways to cycle an aquarium. Here I will only discuss a shrimp/fishless cycle since it is the easiest and doesn’t put any animals in danger.
Shrimpless cycle
- Set up the aquarium: Choose a suitable tank and stand, filter, heater (optional), and substrate. Fill the tank with dechlorinated water, and set everything up keeping into account the water parameters of your future shrimp.
Let your light stay on for at least 8 hours or more to let algae grow into a feast meal for your future shrimp. - Add a source of ammonia: To begin the cycling process, you need to add a source of ammonia to the tank. The easiest way is to “ghost feed” your tank. This means feeding your tank fish or shrimp food even though they aren’t in there yet. Continue the influx of ammonia throughout the whole cycle.
- An optional step: Adding nitrifying bacteria. You can add a culture of nitrifying bacteria to the tank. This will help to further reduce the nitrite levels and establish a healthy colony of bacteria in the aquarium. Products like Stability from Seachem and Easystart form Easy-Life are good options. Another way is to add filter medium for an already cycled tank.
- Monitor water quality: Over the next few days to a week, you should monitor the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels in the tank using a test kit. When your ammonia and nitrite both read 0 your cycle has completed.
- Perform a water change: As nitrate levels rise, you should perform a big water changes to ring your nitrate levels down. When it’s a safe level for shrimp, usually less than 30 ppm, you can add a few shrimp to the tank to see how they react. If the shrimp are doing well, you can then add more shrimp to the tank. But don’t forget to still acclimatise your shrimp!
Extra tips
So, what can you do to keep the nitrogen cycle adventure going smoothly? First, you need to keep an eye on things and check the levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate regularly. You can do this with a water test kit. Try to test regularly so you can quickly adapt to any imbalances. And second, we need to make sure the water stays clean and clear by doing regular partial water changes and keeping the filtration system working properly.
Conclusion
It’s important to note that cycling a tank can take several weeks to a few months, and patience is key. Regular monitoring and maintenance will help to ensure a successful cycle and a healthy environment for your shrimp.
