Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

well i had my lights running for about 2 weeks now... im in the diatom bloom right now... my question is.. when will i be able to turn on my skimmer?? thanks

I dont see why you could not turn it on the first day ??

well i heard you should leave the skimmer off during your cycle so your bacteria could build up... but if this wrong i guess ill just turn her on...

snoop- have you always turned your skimmer on the first day?... how long did your cycle last?

I used to run a skimmer from the first day. Now I just dont have a skimmer on any tank. You will go through algea phases from the start. First the diatom bloom, then usually some cyano. When your tank gets a nice old age you get the dreaded hair algea.

yeh im already starting to get cyano in my refuge... i hope not to get the hair algae since im using ro+di water...... i also plan to get a few tangs hoing theyll eat it.. thanks snoop

I think the inital algae bloom helps the pod population grow, since they mostly feed on decaying plants and algae. It will die go away on its own before too long.

start the skimmer now. the bloom will come no matter what. by skimming your pulling un needed stuff from the water. Algae will develop regardless. Don't fret the span of it. the bloom is the initial stage of bacteria est. itself. let it be. The nore you try and stop it the longer it will last.

Bertz- from all the talk I thought you already had a tank running? is this the first one?

yo.. yeh i have a few tanks.. but i just heard from somewhere that it was good to leave the skimmer off during your cycle... so i was just making sure