Tank cycling

TexAgReefer

TexAgReefer

Premium Member
I am filling up my tank with ro/di right now and I'll add salt tomorrow. I'll start cycling it Sunday using Dr Tim's One and Only and Ammonium Chloride.

Should I run my lights at all during this time?
Should I run my BRS Deluxe Reactor(GFO/Carbon)?
Should I start my skimmer?
Any tips would be appreciated.
 
Ive always done no lights, never have had a reactor and kept my skimmer off as there is no waste to remove

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@Guppy Breeder wrote:
Ive always done no lights said:
The only reason I thought to maybe run the skimmer was because I know it takes a while for it to get going and thought it wouldn't hurt. But I don't want skim out the bacteria I'll be putting in either.
Click to expand...
 
If your rocks, sand, and water are all perfectly 100% clean, then your skimmer won't have much to do. Mine are never 100% so I usually get some foam out of it early on.
Shouldn't be a need for GFO or Carbon if your RO/DI system is working well and the rocks do not leach anything of significance.
I wouldn't run the lights early on unless you have some sort of need for algae growth.

Looks like you are doing a fishless cycle so I would watch the water chem run from ammonia to nitrite to nitrate, do a water change, check for nitrate and phosphate, then slowly add some critters.
 
I ran a skimmer on the 210 for 2 days and managed to pull some gunk out right after filling it with filtered water. Most likely related to the crushed coal I used.
I will keep it off for a full 24 hours when I dose the tank and seed the sand and rock.

After that, I'm going to run it pretty much full time to see what I can collect with it.
 
I added some rock to my sump and fired up the skimmer overnight.
Managed to pull this out.
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Keep in mind that a lot of your gas exchange happens in the skimmer as well.
 
Thanks. Really my only concern with running the skimmer from the get go is that I don't want to pull out any of the bacteria I will be putting in with Dr. Tim's. Is that a possibility? Should I give the bacteria a day or so to find its home?
 
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