Question on cycling

[Railcar79]

I am starting up a new tank. Using dry live rock, some live rock rubble from different aquarium club members, used sand substrate, and 1/3 of my SW will be water drawn from active tanks in my club. Do I still need to cook my rock, or can I aquascape the dry rock, put in sand, and then fill lit and let it do its own thing?

system specs:
55 gal DT
29 gal sump
CPR HOB Overflow
48"Coralife 2 bulb T5HO Display lighting
Coralife 2x9" CF Sump Light
Coralife 65 SuperSkimmer
Finnex 300 watt heater
and a 1350 gph pump.

 

[Sk8r]

I wouldn't cook it. SHould set up in under 12 weeks, perfectly fine.

 

[Railcar79]

one more question, since i will have such a wide range of materials, Do I run my lights on schedule during cycle? Water Changes? and since there is dead materials leaching, and live rock as well, will the skimmer do any good?

 

[BlindZide]

You can run your lights if you want to. Some people do some people don't. The only thing that can happen is an algae outbreak. If you notice this happening then you can turn your lights off. Or keep them off so it never starts. I ran mine during my cycle, had a little battle with diatoms that my crabs and snails quickly controlled.

 

[Railcar79]

I will not be home while the tank is cycling, would it be a problem to have them on 2 weeks at a time?

 

[BlindZide]

I wouldn't run them that long. Most people run them 8-12 hours max per day. I run mine 12 hours a day. You can purchase a small timer for your lights that would turn them on and off at times you set it to so when you are gone you won't have to keep them on for the entire time. Or you can just run it without the lights on. Points have been made for both ways.

 

[Gagonzalez]

You can run the lights off or on. However. I feel that you should give it at least a few weeks of the lights on before you start buying any corals or fish. The reason being that it does add heat to the water and raise the temp. If the temp is too high, you have a chance to adjust your light schedule or add a fan to cool it down. Worst case, you'll need a chiller. Once that temp is happy your good to go!

 

[BlindZide]

you can run the lights off or on. However. I feel that you should give it at least a few weeks of the lights on before you start buying any corals or fish. The reason being that it does add heat to the water and raise the temp. If the temp is too high, you have a chance to adjust your light schedule or add a fan to cool it down. Worst case, you'll need a chiller. Once that temp is happy your good to go!

+1

 

[spieszak]

If you aren't going to be home, do you have an auto top off? You need to keep you salinity in range, and without topping off, it can jump pretty drastically. (I didn't see it in the equipment list) If not, I'd suggest you start with a pretty low salinity.
Also, IMO, I wouldn't walk away from a HOB overflow that I just set up. I'd want it running at least a few weeks before doing so. (I won't run them at all because I don't trust them to restart...)

 

[Railcar79]

Ok It seems I need to clarify a bit, I work out of state, 2 weeks gone 4 days at home, but my wife and kids are at home. I want to make the tank as easy as possible on her. Timers are coming, but they are WAY down on the priority list right now. As far as an ATO, I will never put one on any of my tanks. Never had a HOB fail me in any aspect before, but I know far too many people who have flooded their homes, or killed off their fish due to an ATO malfunction.

I have done salt before, it has been a long time, and I know alot has changed, and every one has their own beliefs on different equipment. I am trying to keep startup costs down right now (had a few major life changing events since the initial tank purchase) but I will be upgrading and changing over time.

 

[BlindZide]

2 weeks away from home would actually create some work for her. This is just my best guess because I'm not an expert but I'll list my scenarios about this and try to help you get your answers...

1. Skimmer cup will need to be cleaned out more than once every 2 weeks.
2. If you decide to run lights, really its just a matter of your wife turning them on in the morning and off before bed.
3. Algae Outbreak, if it happens, have her cut the lights off and leave em off.
4. If you run your lights, you risk evaporation which she will need to top off.

Those are just a few that came to mind. There may be more. Let me know if I am still misunderstanding you about your situation. Again just my best guess.

 

[Railcar79]

My skimmer has a drain on the cup, which will be plumbed to a sewer drain. For the time being, I know there is some stuff that has to be done. I would like to get the tank back to what my last salt tank (taken down in 1996) was, a balanced system where all you had to do was the occasoinal glass scrub, feedings, topping off when necessary.

As stated, after the cycle I will have a timer on the main tank light, and add on lunars on a seperate timer, and a Biopellet reactor (Why didnt we have those back in the day??)

 

[cap032]

Regarding your dry rock, where did it come from and what kind? Some dry rock like BRS Eco is fine without cooking while some others such as BRS Pulkani needs to be cooked. Also, if your wife will be topping off the tank.......make sure she knows to use RO water and not salt water!!! Lol Fwiw, I cycled my dry rock tank for 7 weeks with ammonia and only ran my lights for a few hours at night when I was home. Best of luck and congrats on getting back into SW.

 

[SushiGirl]

You'll get algae after you turn on the lights whether you do it during the cycle or not, so you can either have it during the cycle when nothing ele is in the tank or after your cycle is done & you start to add critters. Cooking isn't required, anything that would happen during cooking is also achieved in the tank over time.

If you want to track how the cycle is coming along, your wife will need to know how to do that (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate).
She will need to top off with fresh RO/DI probably daily (we add about a gallon a day on our 55).
She'll need to empty the skimmer cup if you run it (we did).
She'll need to know how to handle the HOB if an issue arises.
Water changes aren't necessary until after the cycle.

I hope she's interested & ready to take on a tank. She should probably register here herself.

 

[Railcar79]

I am using a mix of BRS Pukani, and rubble from 4 club members tanks. Need bio matter to cycle a tank, might as well use what is in the rock, right??

As far as the cycle, I will check it after 2 and 4 weeks, see where I am at.
For topping off, My last 55 only needed about a gallon a month, and that was with UG filters. Nothing saps your water like the old UG.
Skimmer will be ran, but as stated, there is a drain line on the skimmer cup, and it will be plumbed before water is added to tank.


As far as water changes, I wont change a thing till the water is fully cycled. Hopefully cycle will go quick, using established rock and sand, and 1/3 established water will kick start things. Best part of being gone all the time is that you dont screw with the tank during the cycle because you CANT!!

 

[tommyhrs]

What Sushi said... and

IMO That skimmer is very sensitive to water level and will probably require quite a bit of adjustment to get it to work properly. They have a tendency to overflow.

Leave the lights out til you are home so you can monitor the heat they put out and get the tank temp. balanced. 2 or 3 degree swing from day to night is ok.

 

[BlindZide]

Best part of being gone all the time is that you dont screw with the tank during the cycle because you CANT!!

Amen to that. Ok, well all my observations you answered, I got nothing left. I do have a question for you though. The line you have draining your skimmer, where is it draining to and can you post a pic so I can see that? I would LOVE to set something like that up!

 

[Railcar79]

I have quite a few members of the local club on call for issues while I am on the road, Including the PO of the skimmer. I would rather get the algea bloom out of the way before I get the fish in as opposed to after.

 

[Railcar79]

For the drain line, It is not put in place just yet. the skimmer has a drain hole in the bowl, and all I have to do is attach a 0,25 ID line to the nub, and put the other end in a drain.

this is the cup for the skimmer, you pull the black plug out and attach the tubing.

 

[Railcar79]

the entire setup as it sits right now is

I have the wood to skin the tank on its way right now, and the rest of the materials are currently En Route. I wont be home till memorial day to do anything with it, but it will all be there when I get there.