SKIMMING WHILE CURING

[slick]

I am running my protien skimmer while my uncured live rock is curing. I am confused as in a different thread someone said not to run it can someone clear this up for me. My rock has been in my tank for 5 days.

 

[ed r]

You will see conflicting opinions, just as whether you should change water or not during the cycling process. I do not use a skimmer, but many do. I did change water during the cycle. I realize this can cause the cycle to take longer, but I did not want to stress and kill any more of the creatures in the live rock than necessary. Not changing water may prepare the tank to handle a larger bio-load, but I feel that livestock needs to be added gradually anyway. You just have to keep reading and do what makes the most sense to you. Both methods work, so you needn't worry about it. Good luck.

 

[frankl15207]

IMO Ed's right. I've seen recommendations that the skimmer not be added for four months because it can cause the cycle to be extended. I ran mine from the start. I've always believed that the slower the cycle the better. If you are starting off with good live sand and well cured live rock, you shouldn't have much of a cycle.
In your case, you are starting off with uncured live rock. You want to keep the ammonia levels from exploding and killing off the life on the rock. Running the skimmer will help to keep the excess waste from adding to the levels.

 

[panhead]

I too chose to run a skimmer while curing the rock
it will help with removing the free floating
particles from the die off, I have also had good luck with using lighting to save all I can