Timing of adding skimmer

[nrc]

Good morning,

I'll be mixing up water in the next day or two, and adding seed rock and sand to my tank hopefully this weekend.   I'm considering holding off for a few weeks to let my tank cycle on its own prior to adding a protein skimmer.

My thoughts are that the initial ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate cycle needs to happen unencumbered... I would time the addition of a skimmer to coincide with adding livestock a few weeks down the road.    
Any thoughts?

Nate

(fwiw - My tank specs are in the build thread under nano's)

 

[TheClark]

15 minutes ago, nrc said:

Good morning,

I'll be mixing up water in the next day or two, and adding seed rock and sand to my tank hopefully this weekend.   I'm considering holding off for a few weeks to let my tank cycle on its own prior to adding a protein skimmer.

My thoughts are that the initial ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate cycle needs to happen unencumbered... I would time the addition of a skimmer to coincide with adding livestock a few weeks down the road.    
Any thoughts?

Nate

(fwiw - My tank specs are in the build thread under nano's)

 

I think allot of people do just as you suggest, to get the nitrogen cycle going.  Don't let the skimmer export when you want the waste there for the bacteria population to grow.  Also, there are several on here that have had good luck at speeding the cycle with additives as well. 

 

Good luck!

 

 

 

[cjmdh]

When I started my tank my skimmer was new so during the cycle I let it run to break it in but kept the cup drain open.

[nrc]

Thanks cjmdh and TheClark.