# Do any aquarium animals not need cycling?



## Little-moomin (Sep 28, 2008)

Might sound like an odd question, but are there any animals you can keep in an aquarium that don’t need the tank to be cycled?

For some reason the whole cycling tank/ water parameters scare me. I don’t know why, but I have always wanted a small (but not too small for whatever is in it) aquarium with something in it.

I’m totally new to the idea so would love to know a super easy creature I could start with, shrimps? Crabs? 

I doubt I’ll ever do it, but would be good to know anyway!


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## bunnygeek (Jul 24, 2018)

Any animals you keep in water will ultimately need you to monitor water parameters - it's their whole world so it's important for it to be healthy. 

Shrimp and crabs are going to be just as sensitive to ammonia spikes as fish are. Ultimately an uncycled tank will have ammonia and nitrite spikes - these will burn any animal that tries to swim around in it.

A small volume of water will be harder to keep healthy compared to a larger one. I don't recommend less than 60-70 litres for a first tank. Ideally more than 100 litres. The larger the volume, the bigger the margin of error when it comes to water chemistry!

It does seem quite daunting at first, the whole cycling thing, it is worth sitting down and trying to get your head around it though. Your job as an aquarium keeper is to keep the water healthy, you manage that and the water will care for the animals that live in it  (well apart from feeding of course haha!).


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