iodine and protein skimmer in softies only tank

well 2 table spoon for powdered calcium hydroxide to 1 gallon(how many liters?) of water or makeup water? the link which u gave also tell about magnesium levels too. do u add or keep a check on mag. too? do u use auto top-up or jus pour the topup water directly at night? dont u think that will shock the fishes and corals?

 

I drip my limewater in at night a couple of hours after the lights have gone out.
I put the bucket on top of the sump and use air line tubing to siphon the limewater into the sump. This keeps it from raising the pH too high.
I don't use auto top ups because I can't see spending the money on it as it's so simple to siphon it into the sump. Just a personal preference.
A US gallon is just little less than four litres.
From your original query, every tank cycles at a different rate. Some use old tank water but I always use newly aged salt water.

 

I just realized you spoke of 2 TABLESPOONS of calcium hydroxide. I believe it is TWO TEASPOONS of calcium hydroxide to a gallon, or, 10ml per 3.785 Litres.
From an MDS sheet. solubility of calcium hydroxide is 0.185g/100ml at 20° C so if you wish you could weight it out but that accuracy is not needed.
I actually use 2 heaping teaspoons per gallon so there is more than I need to use but it just "makes sure".

 

well what do u think about adding corals and fish to new tank? im gona use old live rock with dead rock, planing to let it cycle for a month (2-3 dead shrimps in substrate), first two weeks only topups then, water change with old tank water on 2nd weekend(25%), then keep changing water from new tank to old tank and from old tank to new tank everyday 10%, then 4th weekend add all of my old tank water (15gal total tank vol.) to new tank (300 liters total tank vol.)and then shifting corals in the new tank on tht day. what say?

 

Sorry I can't really comment on how that will work as I haven't tried it that way.
I much prefer to use ammonium chloride or liquid ammonia (without additives) and measure how much ammonia I have to start, and when I figure the cycle is finished, I again add a measured amount of ammonia and see how fast it clears. Then I add fish one at a time to allow the biological filter to build up to the new load from the fish. It may take a month or it may be sooner or later before it's ready. I don't do any water changes until it's cycled, and, I don't use old water.
There are a lot of different ways to cycle and my way is just that, my way but not the only or the best way.

 

how much do u dose(ml/liter)? approx how long does ur tank take take to show ur levels 0?

 

When I cycle a tank, I add ammonium chloride to the tank and check the ammonia level after about 12 hours. If the level isn't up to what I want, I add more and retest after it's mixed well again.
I use different amounts depending on the tank size and how many fish I will be putting in when it is first cycled. The more fish, the higher the ppm of ammonia but it will take longer to cycle, but at least it will be ready then for the increased biological loading of the multiple fish.
For a light loading, I generally would get the ammonia up to at least 2ppm, and for medium loading I would get it to 4ppm. I have used levels of 6 and 8ppm for heavier loads.
Once the cycle appears to be complete, I add enough to bring it to between 1 and 4ppm depending on the expected load, and then time how long it takes to clear. If it clears fast then I consider the cycle done. If it clears slow, I consider the cycle still incomplete and continue cycling.
There is NO set time one can tell you it will take to cycle a tank as each tank is different.

 

so u add ammonia in ur bare bottom tank without adding live rocks or with live rocks? do u add any bottled bacteria?

 

I add ammonia to the tanks with the live rock as live rock is the ONLY biological filtration I use in my tanks.
For the seahorse tanks though, I boil the rock to sterilize it and then cycle so that there is no pathogen transference to affect the keeping of seahorses.

 

so u dont add any sort of commercially available bacteria?