old-timer newbie - cycling/skimmer question

[supernareg]

okay so i used to have a 60gal reef with sump/skimmer/fuge/all the works.. perfect chemistry, perfect coral till my nephew thought the sump was a wishing well.


yes, he is still alive.



anyway that was 3 years ago, and i was in for 3 years. I started up again 5 days ago.

26 gallon long, with LS/LR from another tank. Everything's settled, I have 2 damsels in there (no police please), with a koralia 2 and a HOB filter. My CPR bakpak 2R+ skimmer is going to be coming in on thursday.

questions:
1) How do i know my tank is done cycling? Right now, i've noticed a light golden brown growth on some sand and the rocks, and before that it was red (i'm thinkin cyano? but it's gone now).

2) the tank has a glass top to prevent evap (my mom will be watching the tank when i'm gone for a few months, so she cant really measure salinity, top off/etc/etc) as far as surface agitation for gas exchange.. if i have the skimmer, i dont need surface agitation as plenty of gas exhange happens in the skimmer? (micro bubbles and all).

thanks!

 

[supernareg]

ttt

 

[moondoggy4]

Number 2 I would remove the top it will trap heat and cause other problems I would also get a ATO maybe from autotopoff.com to keep your salinity stable.

 

[Conrad25]

Ammonia, nitrates,Nitrites should all be zero to see the cycle is done and I +1 on the auto top off as the glass is .not going to stop evaporation totally and you still will need some top off

 

[Palting]

Ideally you should do serial measurements to see the sequential rise and fall of the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to know when your cycle is done. IME, nitrate is the last to go down to 0, and takes a looong time, and some say you are NEVER really done cycling. Anyway, for practical purposes, the question really is when can one start adding fish and expect them to thrive. If your ammonia and nitrite are both zero, and you have nitrates of about 5 or more, my guess is that you are ready for livestock, as well as starting the water change routine, logs, serial measurments, etc.

As for aeration, the consensus here at RC seems to be that you need all that real estate on the top of your 26 gal long to be open, and the skimmer with all those bubbles are not enough by itself. I happen to agree. I second the ATO, get a reservoir that holds at least a weeks worth of evap replacement, and all your Mom has to do is fill the reservoir once a week.

BTW, a few months is a very long time to leave a reef tank unattended with no chemistry checks, maintenance, etc. It's asking for trouble.