Skimming During Cycle
- Thread starter EasyEd77
- Start date
DC_40gallon
New member
Don't see why not, it will rid your tank of any of the die off from the cycle.
likemike99
Member
some say don't- dirtier tank = more growth of beneficial bacteria, if you don't make sure you run it before you add fish. if you are cycling with fish then do.
DC_40gallon
New member
interesting likemike99 - I can see the truth to that now.
That also makes sense on what some say about not doing a water change during cycling either. I can see the pros and cons to both (sorry easyed77, didn't mean to make the topic more difficult than it already was).
But you do want your powerheads running 24/7 during the cycle, correct?
(I've cycled my tank, but being a newbie like most people at the time, I had no clue what I was doing).
That also makes sense on what some say about not doing a water change during cycling either. I can see the pros and cons to both (sorry easyed77, didn't mean to make the topic more difficult than it already was).
But you do want your powerheads running 24/7 during the cycle, correct?
(I've cycled my tank, but being a newbie like most people at the time, I had no clue what I was doing).
mnchartier
Premium Member
Also gives some time for the skimmer to break in if it is new
wooden_reefer
New member
In general, I would not run the skimmer during cycling.
But the effect would not be major in most cases if you have a lot of wastes (source of ammonia) during the cycle. If the amount of ammonia is already rather low, the skimmer may hurt the cycle.
For me, I often cycle in a separate container and then transfer the cycled medium to my tank. In effect I do a 100% WC and never even remotely consider a skimmer in that separate container.
spleify
Premium Member
Well, I'm on the side of running it during cycle. Like mentioned it also give time for the skimmer to "break in" and it gives you a chance to play with and monitor it before adding any live stock.
In general, I will set up the tank how I want it to be for the long hall and let everything run like normal even during the cycle. This way it gives me time to monitor, make changes and see how things are gonna work once the tank has actually cycled and I'm ready to start adding live stock
Here is a good article that Waterkeeper wrote that explains some things while cycling
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2009-04/newbie/index.php
In general, I will set up the tank how I want it to be for the long hall and let everything run like normal even during the cycle. This way it gives me time to monitor, make changes and see how things are gonna work once the tank has actually cycled and I'm ready to start adding live stock
Here is a good article that Waterkeeper wrote that explains some things while cycling
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2009-04/newbie/index.php
as soon as the sand has settled and the tank water cleared, then theres no reason i can think of why the skimmer cannot be turned on, it wont effect the cycle of the added media, i just cant understand why it cant be switched straight on. as for bad algae, well algae grows due to light and excessive nutrients, the skimmer will remove some organic waste which fuels algae.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
It depends on your frame of reference and your approach to building a new system.
The average newbie does something like this:
1) Buy a tank, equipment, etc. and set it up
2) Plop in as much mailorder (nasty) or LFS bargain-bin (nasty) live rock as they can get
3) Watch the nutrients go off the chart, then calm down a bit
4) Slowly add livestock (a fish or two every few weeks)
5) Wonder why they have serious nutrient issues - most of which are sadly considered "part of setting up a new tank."
From that approach, I would strongly advise you run a skimmer, perform water changes, etc. during cycling. The initial cycle is purely to prepare your tank's biological capacity for the initial bioload you'll place on it - the first fish or other livestock. In a new tank crammed full of dirty live rock, there is vastly more biological material (die off, etc.) than you need to accomplish that goal, so removing excess waste through skimming or other approaches is only going to help you in the long term.
From another perspective, let's assume you set up a new tank with impeccably clean, well established live rock from a display tank. Or, with a very small amount of live rock and a bunch of clean (dead) base rock. In those cases, you most certainly will not have an excessive waste/nutrient load in the tank, so skimming during the cycle would probably not be advisable.
The average newbie does something like this:
1) Buy a tank, equipment, etc. and set it up
2) Plop in as much mailorder (nasty) or LFS bargain-bin (nasty) live rock as they can get
3) Watch the nutrients go off the chart, then calm down a bit
4) Slowly add livestock (a fish or two every few weeks)
5) Wonder why they have serious nutrient issues - most of which are sadly considered "part of setting up a new tank."
From that approach, I would strongly advise you run a skimmer, perform water changes, etc. during cycling. The initial cycle is purely to prepare your tank's biological capacity for the initial bioload you'll place on it - the first fish or other livestock. In a new tank crammed full of dirty live rock, there is vastly more biological material (die off, etc.) than you need to accomplish that goal, so removing excess waste through skimming or other approaches is only going to help you in the long term.
From another perspective, let's assume you set up a new tank with impeccably clean, well established live rock from a display tank. Or, with a very small amount of live rock and a bunch of clean (dead) base rock. In those cases, you most certainly will not have an excessive waste/nutrient load in the tank, so skimming during the cycle would probably not be advisable.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
It really depends on the quality of the material you start with. 90% of live rock used in new tanks is either drop shipped straight from some distributor (which means it's been out of water for a while and loaded with dead or decaying gunk) or it's been drop shipped to an LFS and has sat in a filthy rock vat for who knows how long. If you're starting with that sort of material, you've probably got enough of a bacterial population on it to handle your tank's initial bioload, but you've also probably got a TON of waste on it - so the cycle isn't just about building up a bacteria population, it's about processing the excess waste on the rock before adding livestock. As I indicated above, if that's the case, then you want to get rid of that excessive waste - so run the skimmer.
If you're starting with nice clean perfect live rock that you've cured yourself outside of the display tank (wooden reefer's approach) or you got from a clean, low nutrient display tank, that's another story. Your (in-tank) cycle will be quick and painless, and you probably won't need to skim the tank until you're getting ready to add livestock.
Long term algae battles and other unfortunate events are nearly always the result of tanks being overloaded with nutrients and having weak nutrient export facilities (i.e. skimmer is too weak, water change water is contaminated, etc.) The biggest source of nutrients in a new tank is all the crap that decays off the fresh live rock you just put in! So, it makes sense that skimming during the cycle helps prevent problems down the road.
EasyEd77
New member
I started with 50 pounds of premium dried fiji rock. I cleaned it off really good with RO water before adding it to the tank. I also added 80 pounds of live sand and 30 pounds of live rock. I have been running the skimmer for the last 24 hours and wasn't sure if it is the right thing to do. I will leave it running for now and test my water in another couple of days to be sure everything is up to par.
wooden_reefer
New member
To break in a skimmer during cycling, and wastes in tank are not in excess, you can also put the foaming skimmate back into the tank.
Why not?
Why not?
JJIM
Member
Great answers, and thank you for helping me clear up any inconsistancies/doubts I may have had. I just set my tank up 3 days ago and will be putting the skimmer in this Friday when it FINALLY (was on BO) arrives. I started with 45lbs of live rock and 40lbs of live sand in my 28 LED nano. Now that I understand more of the process of what you have stated, I will get it up and running ASAP now. Thanks greatly!
fishybudguy
Member
good luck jjim the most important thing to take from this post is that by turning on your skimmer now you can figure out how it will work and then once your bioload starts raising your skimmer will kick in and you can hopefully put your final tweaking in on it.....good luck and dont get discouraged
