Reef tank setup now cycling...what now?

Hi,

need some advise on where to go from here,

Ok here is how I started added 25 Lbs of Marine Sand to tank, then added 60 Lbs of Base Hawiian rock to tank. Filled it almost to the top with RO/IO water I purchased @ walmart which I mixed with instant ocean. The salitaty is at 1.024 them temp is at 80 F. I placed a $4 fish i bought at petco just to cycle the tank (a damsel) I turned on my carbon filter which is a Whisper 1. Now this is Day 3 in which I purchased 13 Lbs of Live rock from my LFS. I added it to the top....now what? How long do you think the cycling process will be. After that should I add stronium and calcium and start adding soft coral? How long before I turn on my light? How long till I add a skimmer?

My equipment is as follows:
Whisper 1 power filter
30 gallon tank
3 rio 600 power head just for the time being

Planning on building a refugium once it cures

thanks for the help

[Jason McKenzie]

Hey Reef Guy,
It's all a matter of waiting and testing at this stage. The 13LBs of Live rock will have some die off and that is going to produce ammonia the this will increase the population of ammonia eating organisms in your LR and they will populate the base rock aswell. once your see the ammonia drop off you will have a Nitrite spike and again the Nitrite eating organisms will increase in population. Once you see both ammonia and nitrites are 0 your tank has cycled.
I would stop the carbon filter and only run it occasionally after your tank is established.
I would have a skimmer running now and your lights on a regular schedule.
adding new lighting will usually cause an algae bloom and you might as well get that over with now rather than later.
Right now and maybe for the next month or so your tank is a toxic soup with elevated Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. Having even a $4 fish in there is like sending a human into a gas chamber. There are more effective ways to cycle a tank, like by using raw cocktail shrimp.

Good luck and keep us up to date. We all love reading about new tanks.
And remember Matt's fav saying "Go slow, let it grow"

[Matt Rogers]

I'd wait a 2-3 weeks before adding soft coral, maybe more. Cycling can take a month. Periodically test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. When everything is at zero and stays there, at least the first two, you can think about other stuff.

In the meantime just replace evaporated water with freshwater. You can put your lights on (12 hours a day).

You should get better filtration like a good protein skimmer.

Good luck.

matt


EDIT -- LOOKS LIKE WE WERE TYPING AT THE SAME TIME J.