Running a Skimmer while Cycling?

[NanoDood]

I have a prizm skimmer running in my minibow with LR and LS. Is it advisable to run the skimmer while the tank is cycling???

 

Thanks,

 

-Kevin

[TheCurriculum]

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...t=cycle+skimmer

 

I'm not an expert as I'm new here myself(well new bc I just now setting up my nano) so I have no clue to be honest.

But thier are tons of post about most things that you will want to know. Search on Cycle and Skimmer for example will return the link above and many other post.

 

Enjoy the site and browse through the old post.. Ton's of great info... I've spent many moons reading current and old post

Now I've finally begun my project.

 

If you can't find it in the old posts the odd's are someone here will be able to answer it

 

Just curious what are the specs of your nano?

I always like to see what others have done or are planning to do.

[MakoMan36]

turn your skimmer off during cycling and the tank will cycle faster, a skimmer is a waste of $$ , its like a life insurance (dont need that for your tank)

[palaegic]

Not necessary to run your skimmer during the cycle.

[Chronicles]

What makes you say a skimmer is a waste of money? Because you don't own one? I guess MH is a waste of money then too because you can get away with 999 NO bulbs.

[MakoMan36]

Chronicles .... MH is a different subject dude .but yup MH is a waste of money if you tank is a fish only tank. Ok i use to have a protein skimmer on my nano but i took it out and for me to compare is that its harder to keep my supplements level right cause the PS will take some of it out before the corals do. PS is good if you have a big tank but for nano i do a weekly WC thats my way to go..

[Chronicles]

So don't tell him it's a waste of money, you don't even know if he has a 2gal tank or a 29 or even bigger tank. Yeah MH is a waste if you have fish only, so is live rock, you gonna tell him that's a waste when you don't even know what he has? I've never had a problem with "supplement levels"....and yeah it's like life insurance, with this much money in something I want to make sure if something bad happens my skimmer is going to clean the water.

[tinyreef]

neutral corners. disagreements are fine, let's just learn together.

 

i'd say you can leave the skimmer on during cycling. it'll probably lengthen the time of the cycle but will 'cushion' the shock for any hitchhikers. like espi, i advocate trying to save as much of the hitchhikers on the LR/LS. they'll greatly add to your system's bio-diversity.

 

i also advocate wc's during cycling (also learned from dave) for the same reason. you can skim and wc or not, it's up to you. just realize that using wc's and filtration will likely extend the cycle period (altho there's nothing wrong with that imo, just trying on your patience).

[jmt]

I didn't water change until the end of my cycle. I didn't think it was necessary. I ran my lights on a normal time cycle. If I would have had a skimmer, I would have used it to cycle. When I put it in the substrate and rock, a lot of dust was stirring in the tank for a few days. Skimming it would have nabbed that crap, I just would have had to empty the collection cup. My 10ga is skimmed right now, and I can't believe the green nastiness that comes out of the tank, and I don't even have corals yet! A skimmer will also be beneficial if you want to add more live rock later even after you've added some livestock.

 

-Justin

[SaltyMember]

I just wanted to chime in on the skimmer during cycle issue. Before I cycled my 29 gallon, I asked a lot of questions regarding skimmer use during the cycle. Basically it come down to what tinyreef said. Using the skimmer (and doing water changes for that matter) will lengthen the cycle, but it will also decrease the amount of stress on your live rock inhabitants. I would definitely use a skimmer during cycle if you have live rock with a lot of hitchhiking corals, etc. to keep as much of it as I could.

JMO