New 55 G

M

moncapitane

Reefing newb
I am attaching 3 images, one of my DIY led set up, one of my tank with rocks, one with my skimmer. Still working on the cycle at this time. Not in a hurry. Going to let it cycle before adding anything. My ammonia is probably .4-.6, nitrites are pretty much .1, and nitrate hasn't started yet. Not sure if my ammonia is finished spiking yet or not.
 

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Yeah id pull those bioballs out... gonna render your skimmer useless since the bubbles cant foam up to the cup.
 
I took the bioballs out of the side where the skimmer part works. I left some of them where the "bio bale" goes to help with the outgoing bubbles. It is skimming nice stuff. I cannot believe the skimmed mess has green tine even without anything in the tank other than live rock/sand. It is foaming up nicely. Took my water sample to the LFS to make sure everything was going right and they confirmed it was on the nitrite cycle as the ammonia had already dropped off. Said I was about 1-2 weeks out. Makes me happy and just means I need to hurry up and get my DIY lighting finished.
 
It has been years since I have cycled a tank from scratch, but I thought that you were not supposed to run the skimmer during initial cycling.
The skimmer will remove the nutrients that would have fed the bacteria that are being established - thus starving the bacteria colony and slowing down their colonization.
 
Yea, I am not sure so I went ahead and turned it off. Will be running some water tests this weekend to see the status of everything as I was just waiting on the nitrite spike.
 
Running the skimmer can prolong a cycle. I would probably leave it off.

They do take awhile (couple weeks usually) to break in, though. However, by the time the cycle is finished and you add a fish or two you will not need immediate skimming capabilities.
 
cvcdrk said:
Running the skimmer can prolong a cycle. I would probably leave it off.

They do take awhile (couple weeks usually) to break in, though. However, by the time the cycle is finished and you add a fish or two you will not need immediate skimming capabilities.
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure this skimmer is already broken in as it isn't a new skimmer. It works very nicely. I have it turned off and I am going to do a full chemistry test on my water again today.
 
So my cycle was confirmed to be completed after I checked it, did a 5 G water change to drop my nitrates. Added 20 hermit crabs, they seem to be doing alright. They are climbing all over my rocks, which I take as a good thing as they should be eating. Haven't added anything else as of yet. Almost have my lights completed so I can start adding coral.
 
All my numbers are still good. Got some hermit crabs and added my first fish last night. It is a chalk Basslet. Seems to be doing well this morning.
 

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We are almost to the two week mark. Everything seems to be going well. Most of my hermit crabs that I got as part of the clean up crew seem to be doing fine. They seem to be active more when I go to work around 11 PM rather than during the day. Morgan (my basslet) seems to be doing well and is eating.
 
I have had some changes to the tank of recent weeks. I got one cardinal fish 3 weeks ago, added 2 true percula clownfish on friday night. I also picked up three small frags of dragon eye zoas (first corals ever) and they seem to be doing well so far with the lighting. Have the LEDs at 40% of blue and 55% white and everything seems happy.
 

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