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10GalReef
04/19/2016, 11:11 AM
Got live sand and cured live rock in my 10 gallon.
There was no sign of a cycle starting on its own so last night I threw in a little piece of raw shrimp to speed things up.
This morning I tested my Ammonia it measured 0.5 ppm.
My questions are... should I take the shrimp out?
Or let the Ammonia rise more before removing it? Or just leave the shrimp till it disappears on its own?
Is there a specific amount of ammonia I need in my tank?
Sorry if these questions were already answered in another thread. I'm new here and new to saltwater.
I just want to make sure I'm doing everything right. :)

homer1475
04/19/2016, 11:13 AM
Leave it in there until you measure 2 to 4 ppm of ammonia.

jd371
04/19/2016, 01:10 PM
I started with a raw shrimp, but the smell from the tank was rancid, so I took it out and just dosed pure ammonia and brought it up to 2ppm right away instead of waiting for the shrimp to do so.

civics14
04/19/2016, 01:13 PM
i just threw in some flake food here and there, i agree the raw shrimp gets your water pretty smelly

CritterHeaven
04/19/2016, 01:24 PM
you can use pure ammonia instead of shrimp. I typically try to get the reading at 2 and then let it cycle. Once it is all the way through, do it again.

10GalReef
04/19/2016, 08:38 PM
Ok thanks I'll use pure ammonia instead. I could do without the smell of rotting shrimp lol