Skimming without livestock?

Would you run a skimmer on a tank with only fully cured liverock?


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Hi guys. Need some opinions here. I need to leave a tank for a few weeks with no livestock at all in it but liverock and sand. Do you think it important to still run a skimmer? The water will still be circulating but lights will be off as there will no fish or corals that would need the lights.

So please answer the poll yes or no and give me your reason.
 
Hi guys. Need some opinions here. I need to leave a tank for a few weeks with no livestock at all in it but liverock and sand. Do you think it important to still run a skimmer? The water will still be circulating but lights will be off as there will no fish or corals that would need the lights.

So please answer the poll yes or no and give me your reason.

I am tagging here too, tommorrow my fish are all going in QT for 8 weeks, and the DT will be fallow that time, I was thinking of doing a 20% w/c after 4 weeks, still got inverts to feed though
 
I am a VERY biological filatration oriented person... IMO, that gives your pod population and other critters a wonderful period on which to breed and populate your whole system.

This is in fact one of the main issues I have with skimming - the amounts of good fauna that gets taken out by skimming...

There will be no bioload, no fish pooh, and the die-off when old great grandfather copepod dies, will be so little and his own relatives will eat him in any case...

I say leave the skimmer entirely, let your pods infest the tank, and then when you come back, and start stocking, gooi your skimmer back on...
 
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The live rock will continue with biological filtration and complete the nitrogen cycle. If there is a little die-off and causes a bit of ammonia, it won't harm any fish as there is nothing.
Since no poo and waste food will be available for the pods to chow, add a little bit maybe once a week.
Just test the water a week before planning to add the live stock. You can now put the skimmer back on and do water change.
 
I would skim wet, to try and avoid the inevitable algae bloom that comes with the cycle.

Also if you let your pods thrive by not running your skimmer will you not get die off of these when you do start skimming causing a potential spike of ammonia and then really starting your cycle again.


My thoughts are that the longer you have your system set up the way you will eventually have it the better.

Then when you add fish one at a time you have only smaller bioload issues to worry about.

Maybe i'm completely off the mark but if the question is to skim or not to skim.

I choose skim every time!
 
Hence my point... You are giving your bio load a vacation, so why not pack your skimmers bag too - shame, let the oke rest a while. ;)

Your biological filtration will handle the rest.
 
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Yip, I agree with Jaco. It is cured live rock, so no cycles and no algae as Scuba said the lights will be off. If a pod or ten should die, the natural filtration of the LR will handle it.
Like I said, just test your water a week before starting to add the stock, which should be done slowly anyway, turn on the skimmer if needed and do a waterchange.
No need to skim in my opinion, and if there is a bit of ammonia because of some decomposing pod, so what - there is no fish that can be affected.
 
hmmmmm..........ok
I am possibly just a paranoid reefer.................I like my skimmer going all day and all night and cleaned daily.........but thats just my handicap...lol
Either way I dont think running the skimmer would hurt.
 
it sure sounded like it with you talking about cycles:razz:

Hey Edward, go wash your face, take a deep breath of fresh air and read my posts again. I SAID SKIMMING ISN'T NESSECARY :p
 
I ran my skimmer as normal while cycling with cured live rock. Added livestock after 5 weeks. A skimmer takes a few weeks to "run-in" in any case.
 
Hey Edward, go wash your face, take a deep breath of fresh air and read my posts again. I SAID SKIMMING ISN'T NESSECARY :p
I'm not Edward anymore (thank goodness!), i'm tripping balls :D You could still have been talking about a cycle without skimming! I think that weather down by you is getting to you....
I ran my skimmer as normal while cycling with cured live rock. Added livestock after 5 weeks. A skimmer takes a few weeks to "run-in" in any case.
Not cycling anything here:whistling:
 
Is your livestock back in buckets again:whistling:

I would run it with the skimmer if I had one available;)

Why? There will be no bio-load and the skimmer only works when there are enough docs to remove - so the skimmer will be a useless piece of equipment wasting electricity :whistling:
 
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