How to Cycle a Red Cherry Shrimp Tank - HOW, WHEN AND WHY WE NEED TO CYCLE A SHRIMP TANK!

In the reef aquaria world, cycle- less tanks are common- if you’re only keeping corals and other inverts the biological is so low, and they don’t eat food (photosynthesis baby!) so there’s no ammonia to deal with.

The excellent late Jake Adams was a proponent of these tanks. Worth a look…

I’m a beginner. This was a big help. Do you have video of you setting up a tank from scratch?

What are you feeding your shrimp in this video? ❤️

Brilliantly explained, thank you.

I set up the tank in one day without cycling believe or not.

Okay, I have old filter been running on some of my tanks.

I didn’t cycle new tank with over 100 cherry shrimps because I was excited as heck. I aquascape and put every plants which is heavy planted and lots of moss in and Pothos on top of water and it’s stem is in the water.

You need some microfauna so I grab bit water 1/4 from other neglected tanks and use rodi water to fill the rest and remineralized the water and used Seachem stabilize. I added catapa leaves. I had to drip acclimate just received shrimps from shipping and dump them right away in the new tank with in day 1.

Now it’s been 7 months the parameters are stable and now over 200+ cherry shrimp probably more with 3 ottos and 4 of micro crabs and 4 Pom Pom crabs.

It’s my second time having shrimps since my first batch of shrimp back then all of them died with in 2 weeks. But didn’t give up and tried again and just let them thrive and let them be.

I do 20% water change every 2 weeks it’s all been good.

Parameters are been steady.

Best video on cycling that I've come across online. I'm a goof and use a combination of plants and bottled. Unfortunately, the bottle says you can add livestock by the second day of your tank being set up which makes me cringe.

I'm so excited since I'll be getting my first shrimp tank in like a month and these videos are very helpful

Hi Richard. I recently happened upon your channel and appreciate your content. I’m new to trying my hand at keeping shrimp.
I have a couple of questions and am hopeful either you or others following your channel may be willing to help me with.
I understand cycling a tank but am curious regarding partial water changes. When adding shrimp, I’ve learned to use the drip method to acclimate the shrimp, but I’m nervous when adding new water not understanding how they acclimate to the water being added. I haven’t really seen anything about doing this safely.
I have about 18 blue dreams, but over the course of the past few months (since I got them) I’ve seen no baby shrimp. I feel I’m missing something. If they’ve started molting, I’ve not seen any evidence of it.
Any tips or tricks? Prior to getting the “dreamers” I’d read and heard they would multiply quite a bit. Feeling slightly disappointed.

That is one awesome racing stripe yellow shrimp. I have one similar but i think yours is better.

This was an excellent video! Very relaxing and well done!

Thanks for another good video, I wasn't aware of the term 'cycling' until now. I heard adding a few snails can help speed up this process? Planning to add java moss, snails and sprinkle some fish food with air stone running for a few days-week until I get my first shrimp! I don't think i've seen any single videos with 'shrimp setups' that talk about the cycling process required afterwards!

Very nice and usefull video 👍

Great video, thanks. Please don't forget some tap water can have nitrates, so double check that before assuming a tank is cycled.

Your videos have been so helpful for me as I’ve set up my first shrimp tank. I was just able to add 6 to my tank a few days ago and I’m so glad that I’ve had zero deaths. I think my shrimp might be broken though, I almost never see them during the day, terrified that they’ve all died, but then if I shine my flashlight on them during the night I immediately spot like 5 before they all swim away. My darn shrimp are nocturnal 😅

Where do you sell your shrimp ?

Great information. Thanks Richard

Hi, just a question
I have a 1.2m x 50cm x 50cm tank coming soon
I was going to give it some time to carpet Monte Carlo on Fluval Stratum before adding around maybe 30 cherry shrimp and then nano fish after a week or two after the shrimp

Would taking some biofilter media and transferring all of my mosses be enough to support the shrimp colony in a large tank? Or should I take precaution and fully cycle it before I even add the shrimp? Or alternatively, will giving the monte carlo time to grow without adding ammonia lead to a lack of bacteria?

Your videos are gold Richard - Not a single piece of misinformation from the start.
Thank you for this.

Thanks for helpful video. Have cycled aquariums in the past without livestock so as not to damage any fish in the process - but it’s always good to hear the process explained again so clearly!, K

love this video! very well, detailed and clear explanation of the cycle process. Love how your channel is growing so rapidly! wish you success to 100k subs!

I am using ammonia solution in small amounts to cycle my tank without livestock. I also added in a pinch of old fish food. My ammonia and nitrite went off the charts, algae and fungus started to grow and my plants started to explode with growth. Akin to eutrophication of a lake exposed to runoff agricultural fertilizer. I am loving it, I am looking forward to doing a complete water change now, hoping that the sponges in my canister filter are now safely inhabited with beneficial bacteria and archaea. I will next add algae eating animals to start to populate my tank. I am in no rush to get back to crystal clear water, I am focused on building a stable ecosystem full of life, then I can start making it look pretty. I watch videos like this to assure myself that I am understanding the nitrogen cycle and moving in the right direction.

Love how you explained this in such a simple and understandable way. This channel is pure gold

Did you make a video on shrimp food…if not why not?

Hi Richard - really enjoying your channel as a super new shrimp keeper! Just tried to download a copy of your book and had this error message "TypeError: NetworkError when attempting to fetch resource" thought I should let you know - thanks for your generosity!

Nice job, your topic just so happens to coincide with my setting up a new shrimp/fish tank. Using API quick start and flake food to get things going. Lots of plants including Java moss. Adding Endler females at some point this week. Then a couple of weeks to establish for Red Cherries. ( changing tanks due to Planaria, and upsize from 5 gal. To 10 gal. ) . 🦐🐟keep on shrimp’n

Hi, im not sure if you keep caridina shrimp but im wondering how do you prepare water for them? I have buffering substrate and tannins to keep the water ph low but every water change i add in much higher ph tap water. Is this fine or do i need to buy ro water?