Quick Question

[RIJohn]

I was wondering if I could cycle my tank with out an skimmer.

Only reason I am asking, besides being impatient, is my skimmer is on back order. I have my tank set up plumbing and lights and placing water into Saturday. I would like to get the cycle going sooner rather then latter.

So what do you think?

Thanks
John

 

[wontonflip]

Actually, it's best to cycle w/o one, since the point of cycling is to let the biological matter you cycle your tank with needs to sit and rot....besides...the skimmer has nothing to skim :)

 

[queenangel77]

+1 wonton

 

[mng777777]

Yep, just don't go putting any livestock in there until you have your skimmer up and running. :)

 

[RIJohn]

Thanks everyone... thats what I figured but I just want to make sure.

 

[Smitty]

+2 Wonton

 

[dcantucson]

It will not hurt to run your skimmer while cycling your tank, though it is not necessary. However most skimmers will need a 'break-in' period so you should begin running the skimmer a week or so before you add any livestock. JMO

 

[Bluespace]

My skimmer has been running since I put up the tank on 1-28. I thought I was suppose to.:dunno:

Skimmer didn't really start pulling out much until last week.
Today I got a 0 nitrite reading.:mrgreen:

 

[mng777777]

No harm done Blue, running the skimmer during cycle doesn't harm anything, it may just prolong your cycle.

 

[Navarchus]

I was able to avoid a harsh cycle by buying dry base rock from MarcoRocks, and then buying small amounts of cured live rock from my LFS (local fish store). The rock that I got from the fish store had no die-off, and seeded my tank nicely with no significant NH3 spikes. I ran a skimmer the whole time--it didn't produce much skimmate though.

 

[Bifferwine]

I really don't think it matters if you run your skimmer during a cycle or not. Since everyone's tank is different and some take longer to cycle than others, I don't think it's going to make a noticeable difference as far as cycle length goes. But it will cut down on the time that you have to sit and wait for the skimmer to break in.