New to this forum and also new to the hobby of saltwater aquariums. I just purchased a new 70 gallon Oceanic reef ready tank along with the stand. For lights I bought the coralife 36" aqualight pro 250 w HQI. Underneath the tank is a pro clear refugium along with a coralife protein skimmer. In the sump is a Lifeguard quiet one model 3000 which i have about a three foot head so I suppose it is pushing approx 580gph. In the tank I have two Rio 1000 power heads with hydor FLO rotating deflectors. those should be moving approx 300gph each. I started out by filling the tank with salt and RO water I added approx 80lbs of live rock and maybe 50lbs of arag-alive sand enough for 2" across the bottom. Also added 20lbs in the refugium along with a couple of pieces of live rock and some Chaetomorpha Macro Algae. Did all that and performed a water check Naturally everything perfect. 76F,1.025,PH8.0, no nitrates no nitrites and 0 ammonia. Let that go 1 week and performed another test here we go. temp 75.5 1.025salinty ammonia to high to test ph8.2 no nitrates but the nitrites tested @ 2mg/l. So i did a little scrubing of the live rocks and vaccumed about 50% of the water out. Refilled the tank and now going on the second week. I was wondering if I should have the lights on during this cycling of the tank period or not ? Also I have no place for any kind of filter media eg; filter floss ,filter pads. is this needed? I am seeing some brown spots pop up on my sand bed and was wondering what it was ? Well thats my story and would appreicate all the help i could get Thanks!!!