Alright, how badly am I screwing this tank up?

[tjtsj]

So here is my setup. 46 Gal tank, 10 Gal sump, DIY overflow box, DIY Wet-dry to sump, Coral Life skimmer, QuietOne Return pump. 2 MaxJet 600, plus an EheimPro II canister filter for guaranteed filtration in the event that my DIY system failed. Oh and lighting is from a Nova Extreme 4x39w T-5 (2 Actinic, 2 10K)

Ok with that out of the way, I set the tank up about 6 weeks ago with RO water. After about 3 weeks I added 28lbs of live rock. The tank cycled very quickly and now I'm back down to 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 15mg/l Nitrate. PH 8.1 SG 1.022, ALK 3.3 Meq/l.

I am wondering how I would know if my rock is doing ok. I included pictures of the setup and a closeup of the rock.

Question 2, is my biofilter going to be ok with no fish producing waste, or do I need to introduce something to keep it going.

Alright Third, I am having a heck of a time with micro bubbles in my tank. I have tried changing the media in the outflow box from the skimmer. I have some sponge media in the baffles that separate the sump from the return pump. I tried wrapping that sponge in a 100micron filter pad and that worked but it clogged up in a VERY short time.

Thanks for reading my small novel, but any help or advice you can give is much appreciated.

[Otty]

Get a Yellow Tail Damsel and throw him in the tank to get the bacteria growning. If the rock in not nasty with a bunch of die off I would shut the skimmer off also because there is nothing there to skim... Next make sure you are not turning your light on during this period because you will just be adding fuel to the fire and cause a big algae problem.
What is your Calcium and Magnesium at????

[crappyballer]

i would ditch the pad on the coral life skimmer and just use a piece of 3/4" pvc with holes cut in it like this:


except a little more uniform and stagger them on the other side. also it looks like you are skimming a little wet from the pictures. i would turn the red knob a little more closedso the top of the micro bubles are just under the begining of the cone shape. i keep my salinity a little higher around 1.025 but that is just me and your rocks seem to be doing good per your test results

[tjtsj]

Oh and just to avoid confusion. The skimmer is not wet skimming, the water in the cup was overflow from when I had just added water and didn't adjust the skimmer level so it overflowed a bit.

[Jason McKenzie]

I'm never a big fan of putting a fish in the tank to cycle especially when a raw tiger prawn from the grocery store will work just fine. that is what I would use to get the cycle started. you can put the shrimp in a filter bag so that it doesn't make a mess as it breaks down.
As for the bubble there are many ways to resolve this, I use filter socks like this
I have 6 so that when they get dirty I can change them out and then wash them in the washing machine. I get mine HERE
But I'm sure you could find a local source

J

[crappyballer]

Originally Posted by Jason McKenzie

I'm never a big fan of putting a fish in the tank to cycle especially when a raw tiger prawn from the grocery store will work just fine. that is what I would use to get the cycle started. you can put the shrimp in a filter bag so that it doesn't make a mess as it breaks down.
As for the bubble there are many ways to resolve this, I use filter socks like this
I have 6 so that when they get dirty I can change them out and then wash them in the washing machine. I get mine HERE
But I'm sure you could find a local source

J

when you put them in your washing machine do you use anything else to help get them clean ie detergent or something? and the leftover soap residue won't hurt the tank at all from the regular washing of clothes?

[calialien]

Originally Posted by tjtsj

Ok with that out of the way, I set the tank up about 6 weeks ago with RO water. After about 3 weeks I added 28lbs of live rock. The tank cycled very quickly and now I'm back down to 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 15mg/l Nitrate. PH 8.1 SG 1.022, ALK 3.3 Meq/l.

Are you going to run FW or SW?

[Jason McKenzie]

Originally Posted by crappyballer

when you put them in your washing machine do you use anything else to help get them clean ie detergent or something? and the leftover soap residue won't hurt the tank at all from the regular washing of clothes?

I use Baking soda (Sorry forgot to mention that). Any residual will just aid in getting my alk up

[Jason McKenzie]

Originally Posted by calialien

Are you going to run FW or SW?

Skimmers do not work nor would LR if he were running a FW system

J

[Otty]

Originally Posted by Jason McKenzie

I can change them out and then wash them in the washing machine.

Mommy would kill me if she seen me putting one of mine in the washer.... I just do the old fashion hand wash on my filter socks. Keeps me from listening to her cus all night long....