Ghost Shrimp

[Azhael]

Creek water might be inadequate depending on the characteristics of the land. Also, arguably you would risk introducing patogens (creeks are usually inhabited by gammarids which are vectors for many parasites and patogens).
If you want to speed the process, use plants, decoration, substrate or a filter from an already stablished tank. If you don´t have any, maybe some friend has and can give you something to use.

Anyway, if you make daily partial(20%) water changes and clean regularly, you should be able to keep the shrimp in the tank while it cycles.

[Wyomingite]

Thanks Kurt, that was kinda what I was thinking, but wasn't sure. Now, at the risk of sounding like a complete idiot, what if I use well water or water out of my creek. I live 13 miles out in the country and have nice sandy creek in my front yard. Would that water already be "cycled"? I would like to expedite the process if possible. I am afraid if I wait four weeks it will be too cold to ship the little guys.

No, in either case, well water or creek water. Kurt is referring to the bacteria Nitrosomonas sp. and Nitrobacter sp. These are substrate dwellers and any suspended in the water column are negligible, so using water from a well or creek will not give you "pre-cycled" water. In addition, wells often pull from aquifers that are relatively devoid of organic matter, have high carbonate hardness, and a high pH. The chemistry can be a little overwhelming for someone just learnin', and is temperature dependent as well, so I'll greatly over-simplify and simply say that ammonia is far more toxic at a higher pH (8-8.5+) than at a pH of 7 (neutral) or lower.

Azhael is correct in methods to speed up the cycling process. Depending on the size of the culture vessel (the larger the better as the ammonia and nitrites will be diluted), water changes will likely be able to keep concentrations of ammonia and nitrites down while the tank is cycling, esp. since shrimp excrete very little ammonia due to their size and metabolism. I'm not sure what Azhael was referring to with "cleaning". I agree you will want to vacuum out any uneaten food or dead plant material daily, but do not rinse or scrub the substrate or other surfaces with anything but tank water. That is where the bacteria are colonizing. Myself, I would advise against keeping livestock in a tank that is uncycled. Ammonia is toxic at 1 ppm and nitrites are toxic at 0.1 ppm. If ya insist on it, consider getting a simple box filter or small hang-on-back filter and putting something like Ammosorb in it to minimize the ammonia during the cycling.

The ideal set-up for culturing shrimp for feeders is a 5 or 5 1/2 gallon tank with 1/2" of sand, a small sponge filter, a small piece of driftwood and a clump of java moss. Cycle it first, add your shrimp, feed them every day and change 20% of the water once a week. Been doin' it for 26 years. Ya can try cyclin' the tank with livestock in it, but IME it's easier, cheaper and less frustrating to be patient and do it right the first time.

WYite