Protein Skimmer vs Filter

I agree.

 

you can throw in a small piece of frozen shrimp from the supermarket and let it decay. Then after your ammonia and nitrIte disappear you can add a fish. But one at a time. I did the same process as you with my 30 gallon and lost quite a few $20 fish without letting the cycle finish. A piece of frozen shrimp at the grocery store will run you about $ 0.04

Im just trying to save you some cash..

 

I am not sure since i have been using a canister... but is it true that if we donot use a carbon source (inside a canister or sump) that there would be an odour in the tank ( n ofcourse ur room/house?)

 

This is false. In some cases carbon will help to remove odor from your tank, but this doesn't mean that if you don't use carbon, your tank will smell. I never run carbon on my tank and it doesn't smell.

 

Thanks for explaining it, it was a dumb question.

Thanks Bama! I will try this method and let you guys know what happens. Should I have my live rock and base rock in during this time?

 

Yes, you should have your LR, base rock, sand, heater and powerheads running in the tank. Lights arent necessary at all for this function.. I know a few weeks is a decent time to wait, but once its over you will forget you ever had to wait and will be ready to start up the tank.

Are you planning on running a sump, or is this a tank only?

 

Goddd..I really should have been on this site a few months back....Dealing with discus and angels...I have been more of a canister guy...I have been using 2 Tetra canister filters along with the skimmer since i started my SW tank and now i hear that only live rock and skimmer is sufficient for a successful tank... Imagine the amount of Stress (maintenance..leakage...cleaning ...wastage of power ) ..Need to slowly pull out the canisters then...Sell them n buy better High Output Lights and maybe an additional protein skimmer (standby?)

 

I wouldn't worry about keeping a standby skimmer around. A good skimmer should run fairly trouble free and if there is a problem a few days without isn't a big deal. You could certainly put money into things that are better than canister filters, but we all make equipment mistakes in the beginning, so don't worry about it too much.

 

I am going to be running a tank only, I know a lot of people are really pushing for a sump but I don't have the space for it

 

How long should I wait till I add my clean-up crew?