Quick Question :)

We are almost in the 3rd week of cycling our tank, and thus far we have had the protein skimmer going in the back (the guy @ the LFS said that the protein skimmer would both act as a skimmer and as a way to get oxygen into the tank--which it seemed to be doing fine). I had just read a post about another person going through cycling and was told to turn to protein skimmer off.

So, off or on?

(If the protein skimmer needs to be turned off, we do have a spare jet that also has an airpump attached to it, so the tank will be getting oxygen.)


TY again!

 

Oh boy, this is a hot topic on here!! What I followed and many others is to leave the skimmer off for at least 5 months. All it is doing is taking out beneficial microorganisms that your cycle needs, including coralline spores that are a good thing. If you have a super heavy bioload (I don't think you do, a tank this young shouldn't) it might be necessary but then you would have other issues! IMO right now your best bet is to let nature take her course, the tank will do what it needs to do on it's own during the cycle. You are setting up an entire ecosystem in a glass cube right now, let it do it's thing for a while before you do anything else.

 

+1 on turning the protein skimer off. Once you get your bioload going (first couple fish or inverts), you can turn it back on to prevent DOC's from building up and causing your nitrates to skyrocket.

Just remember what you are trying to do during your cycle. You want any type of dead matter- whether it be die-off from LR, or fecal matter from your cycling damsel (I disagree with using fish to cycle- but I'll leave that hot topic out of this) to break down and turn to ammonia, than nitrites, than finally nitrates. With a protein skimmer running, this process is hindered dramatically because it will pull these disolved materials out of the water before it can go through this process.

Regardless though, many people have left their protein skimmers running during a cycle- and if you feel the need to, don't feel any harm by it!

BTW, directing a powerhead to the surface will cause some good ripple action, breaking the water surface and allowing for adequate oxygenation of the water. However, during your cycle, you shouldn't have to worry about your water's Sp02.

 

+2 on turning the skimmer off. Thats definitely a no-no until 4-5 months after cycling and being established. As said before, it takes most of your more beneficial bacteria/proteins out of your water. So just keep it off till it gets more mature.

=) Post pictures too!

 

+ 3 on that. I didn't bother with the skimmer until the tank was cycled, so for me it was about 6 weeks or so. I cycled using the raw shrimp method, once my fish were added to the tank then the skimmer went on about a week or so afterwards.

 

-1. i'd skim from the start. i did with my new tank, a 75g with LR only at first, and the cycle took about 3.5 weeks from first day to back to all 0's. the skimmer started pulling debris about a week into the process.

in reading about starting a system (fenner's and a few other books) no-one mentioned not skimming during the initial cycle. personally i'd think that in establishing the new ecosystem, you'd want to have all the variables running from the get-go. if you cycle, then start you skimmer, i'd guess that the micropopulation would have to re-adjust to the change in enviroment and you'd start another (probably not full) cycle.

just my 2 cents.

 

-2 Get skimmer going day 1, Why build up a huge amount of organics in your tank only to feed algae. Not running a skimmer from day one only sounds like a great way to have an algae farm.

J

 

turn skimmer on. your tank will cycle whether the skimmer is on or not. All you are doing by not running your skimmer during the cycle is allowing filthy organics to stay in the system to fuel algae like jason said above.

 

Well, having algae is no problem.. If you aren't LAZY, you can clean up the glass in under 2 minutes effectively... It's all up to the person I suppose..

 

Will do! Here are some of the more "interesting" parts of the tank--as I saw it... Sorry ahead of time if things are out of focus, I'm getting used to my new camera lol.