New Guy, New Guy Problems, and Hello

[Baxter5]

Hello,

I am the new guy, nice to meet you all.

I purchased a 90 Gal bowfront Oceanic tank, with 30 Gallon Sump, G3 Skimmer, a Tunz, 2 sea Swirls and few other things. A complete setup, the system was used and found it on Ebay. I also have a metal Halide lighting set up with 3 metal Halide lamps, two on the blue side and one 20k in the center. All my Live Rock and Live Sand was established prior to me putting it together. I am having a few issues that maybe some of you could offer some insight on since this is my first Saltwater tank. I filled it with Water last tuesday 2/7.

- My skimmer is overflowing even on the lowest level. On my first fill I used tap water to make the sea water and used some water conditioners because it was tap water. I plan on doing several water changes once I get my RO/DI set up. I suspected (and still do) that the reason the skimmer is overflowing with a lot of foam was because of the water conditioners, however after almost a week it doesnt seem to be getting better. How long should I continue to suspect that the water conditioning is causing the problem?

- Im getting a lot of bubbles in the water. I think part of this might be attributed to the skimmer issue, are there other ways to get better control of bubbles in the tank? Will raising or lowering the return pipe or restricting the return flow help solve this problem? It seems that combination of the return into the sump and the overflowing skimmer is creating "suds" in the sump.

- All my Amonia/Nitrate/Nitrite test are reading 0, and the Ph is just a bit lower than ideal. I expected the "cycle" to start already since the rock and sand were live and well to start with, also Ive been priming the tank with Biozyme. Is it even remotely possible that since the tank was already established days before I set it up (all I theoretically did was put water in it) that I am actually towards the end of the intial cyle instead of the beginning? Am I correct to expect that the Amonia should have shot up by now (6 days) as an indication that the cycle is starting?

- Ive read very different things on how much "light time" the tank should get during this stage, ranging from 5 hours a day to 12. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any helpful insight on my skimmer, bubbles, and the biological filter cycle. I also put 3 cheap $1.50 each crabs in the tank on thursday just for kicks (writing them off as expendable), but to my surprise they are very active and still alive. I have also noticed a couple tube worms on the rock that are sticking their "feathers" out (a sign of healthyness?).

Baxter

[optical]

hey baxter,
sounds like a pretty good setup.
you really should have used RO water for your initial fill, this may be the reason why your skimmer is working overtime. my LFS sells RO/DI water for .25 a gallon.
about the skimmer...if it is a venturi skimmer, just play with the air intake from the pump(venturi valve) and try to get it so theres not so much air making all those bubbles. also make sure its pretty clean, that may also affect how much skimmate you will get.
even something like you putting your hand in the tank can affect how your skimmer works.
im constantly adjusting mine about every other day or so.
i used to get those micro bubbles too, but i found that if you put a filter bag over the pipe that water flows from your skimmer to the sump, it should eliminate the bubbles almost completely.
also make sure your water level in your sump is always above your main return pump.
another thing is, sometimes chemicals you add will also make your skimmer go nuts, and you will simply just have to turn it off for a while.
you really shouldnt have any noticable amonia or nitrite in your tank until you have stuff in there to produce it. if your rock was "cured" before you added it, and there was no dead stuff on it, then your pretty much all good to go. hold off for another week or so and test your water again.
if its still good, try adding a few damsels but nothing more for a month.
its always better to be safe than sorry.
even though those fish are cheap, they shouldnt be considered expendable.
the main goal is to try and keep them alive an healthy, ya know.
your MH lights sould be changed about once a year, so find out how old they are so you know when to change em.
good luck!

[Baxter5]

Thanks for the advice,

It was my initial intention to use only RO water for the intial set up, but when seeing the difference in price of ordering one on-line and how marked up they are at the LFS I decided to order online (like less than half the price). I felt like I was on stop watch becuase I didnt want to damage the live rock that was sitting in a rubbermaid while I set up the tank, and figured it might be better to get them in water soon as possible and do the water changes rather than also wait for the RO/DI unit to be shipped. The girl at the fish store (probably bad advice) had said that it would probably be ok to use tap water for the first fill and then just do a lot of water changes after I received my ro/di. My LFS does sell pure water, but the obstacles in transporting that quantity also led me to going the tap water route.

I will try that with a filter bag, thanks! I did add more PVC pipe to make sure the return was well below the water line in the sump. I could not find any place to adjust the air intake on the skimmer but did set it to the lowest height.

I do believe that the rock was fully cured, the previous owner had had the tank for about 8 months. Of course I want to keep any inhabitants healthy and happy, but less expensive animals are better at first I think;)

The lights have about 60 hours on them, and they are bright! My question was more in regards to the daily "daytime" cycle for the tank in this early stage.

Thanks again

[optical]

i heard the best photo period would be to try and replicate how much sunlight there is on a natural reef. i go 12 on and 12 off, and my livestock is looking pretty good. some people say less on and more off. i also heard that most corals only need about a four hour photoperiod with HM lighting and anything more doesnt really do anything except hike up your electric bill.