ooohhh I've never heard of that before! Well...I think you need something that produces ammonia..not sure if frozen, dead shrimp will produce that. o^o
You could try adding actual shrimp (cherry or ghost shrimp) or snails ^^
Wooowww! (I didn't read it so I wouldn't know, lol) Well then by all means, go for it, but I'm not sure if a 3 gallon will cycle. I'm pretty sure the lowest size tank that will cycle is a 5 gal.
I am currently doing a shrimp cycle in my 29gallon, today is day 15. I i've lost all my nitrites and nitrates that I had from day 10, so I'm not sure what caused that to crash but I'm just watching my floating pantyhose in the tank. My thread I'm watiting for someone who knows more about cycling to answer me as well. I guess if I bump yours someone will notice the shrimp cycle questions. I assume you just add the shrimp and wait unil you have manageable ammonia and nitrite levels and a good amount of nitrates. Hence you have bacteria eating the ammonia and nitrites (harmful stuff) and the nitrates just sit there. Basically at that point you do a water change then add your fish, but not too much else is talked about the shrimp cycle to be more specific.
I think that you need to leave the shrimp in there until basically the day you add the fish. The bacteria need a supply of ammonia or the cycle ends and if there are no fish and you take the shrimp out early the bacteria that eat the ammonia will die and then the ones that eat the nitrites die and you have to start all over.
I'm pretty sure that basically you put your shrimp in and then just monitor the levels until you see your ammonia and nitrites staying at zero while your nitrates go up, remove the shrimp, do a large water change (remember the bacteria live in the substrate, filter, etc not the water so do as large a water change as you like without scrubbing anything down) and then you're ready to go.
The advantages of this method are its ease, basically fix it and forget it, and it supplies a steady source of ammonia. However, I have read about potential for adding mold and fungus to your tank when you use this or the fish food method. Just something to consider.
"Feed" your decomposing shrimp as the cycling progresses and it'll be fine. By feeding, I mean just throw some fish food in there every few days to ensure there's enough ammonia throughout the process to sustain your bacteria.
When the cycle is complete, remove the shrimp, do a major water change/gravel vac, and add your fish.
I sincerely don't trust the grocery stores, those "raw" shrimp are as natural as the cut of beef over by the pork chops. They've been washed, sprayed with tested-on-bunnies-human-safe preservatives then exposed to several different gasses.
I just feed my imaginary fish in my empty tank with fish food, saves a lot of trouble AND any micro-parasites or bacteria the shrimp may have that are ignored because cooking sterilizes them.
You don't eat raw shrimp because they can kill you, why would you make your fish swim in it?
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