water changes while cycling

[rica5tully]

I have a 55-gallon tank:

2 maxi-jet powerhead
AquaC Remora skimmer
Dead base rock
(I'm going to add some live [cured] rock when it cycles)

I put two raw shrimp in there to cycle the tank.

Question 1- Do I do water changes? How often?

Question 2- My skimmer isn't running. Is that right?

Thank you!

[OrionGirl]

If there's nothing in the tank that you want to keep alive, only do water changes if the ammonia reaches extreme spikes of more than about 7ppm. At this point, it may be inhibiting the bacteria population. Otherwise, don't worry about water changes until there's something more than bacteria to care.

Right--leave the skimmer off until you are cycled and have fish in there, right after your first water change.

:)