newbie reef please help

[chefmikea]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello im mike and ive just got in the hobbybut have had some minor exposure to it from my 4 yrs of envying myformer roomates 55 gal, so ive started with a 20 gal tall with 25 lbs of agralive bed, 20 lbs of established purple and white live rock, AquaticLife Internal Mini Skimmer 115, Marineland Ml90509 -Jet 400 PRO, Marineland Visi-Therm Deluxe Submersible Heater - 75W. a regular carriage balast that came w tank that has a Coralife T8 Colormax Aquarium Lamp 18 inch, ecoxotic Panorama Pro LED Modules (blue)and 20 gal rodi h2o.....i let that cycle for about two weeks and today i dropped in frags of red zoa, green zoa, and redacted (sp?) mushroom, 25 critters--1 tiny emerald crab, 20 or so snails and hermits, and for giggles two small blue chromis, starting a diet of brine and mysis shrimp.....i think im doing ok, but im a little concerned that there has been sort of a fine "dust" swirling in there making it soewhat not as clearas it was yesterday. Im starting to wonder if my skimmer is optimal right now, or im overreacting to something that should clear up soon ....edit...one of the live rock i put in today was new coul dit be from that, nad how do i elimanate the skimmer as being potentialy running at minimal capacity...also there hasnt been a great ammount of skim or build up yet in collection cup, some, but not much. maybe not enough bio load yet?

anyway, any direction would be most welcome, sorry if this is to detailed for this spot but i truly am a begginer.

[Reef264]

Alright, have you tried adjusting the skimmer?

It sounds like you are off to a good start.Did you test the tank to see if it was through cycling?Or was it an assumption?

As for the tank Clarity, that could have been as simple as one of the Chromis Stirred up the sand Chasing one another.Mine do Quite a bit.

[chefmikea]

i have, but not sure its doing anything, it looks like when i adjust it, i get it to the most water pressure coming through the siphon, is that the optimal skimmer setting? i dont know....also should it run silent? it makes some suirpping noise, but the info said mount it with the water line right at the vent by the control knob so that it could take some air in...

[chefmikea]

it was an asuption based on healthy live rock, agraalive, and hardware running for 13 days, (except for piece i added to glue some of the frags on...i wouldnt have done it, but it was a perfectly shapped/established piece of live rock

[zhewitt04]

it was an asuption based on healthy live rock, agraalive, and hardware running for 13 days, (except for piece i added to glue some of the frags on...i wouldnt have done it, but it was a perfectly shapped/established piece of live rock

Asuption you are cycled? It probaly is not cycled in 13 days if this is what you ment. It takes normally around 6 weeks. My 65 took 4 and my 135 took 7 or 8. I think you need to make sure you are cycled before doing anything else

[TjwBlake]

Assuming a cycle is done is definately not the way to do things. You should get your hands on a test kit and start testing your Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates. I'm not saying it didnt't cycle, but like others have said, 2 weeks is a very short cycle to just assume, especially with the amount of livestock you added right away.

Start testing and be ready to do some waterchanges if you start to see ammonia rising or any ammonia at all. You can still manage to get things going you are just going to have to keep on top of things a little more than you may have otherwise

[chefmikea]

edit: i tested water at lfs and they said i was "in great shape", also they said its prob the skimmer....micro bubbles are the culprit, not sure how to adjust skimmer any further, aqualife 115 skimmer btw....aparantly there are some mods, but i think that might be over my head unless someone has a great idea, ive tried adjusting the dial at the top, and also raising/lowering the unit itself. but i cant seem to stop the the micro bubbles from forming....tank clarity being the goal, al other corals/inverts doing fine after a couple small additions to the tank, all softies. anyone ever use this skimmer and have some ideas?

[TjwBlake]

Ya.. I think one thing you will notice around here is that you take what the LFS says with a very large grain of salt. Remember, they want to sell you things and make money.. personally I don't like the idea of "in great shape". Part of your success comes from marking these test results and tracking the progress of the tank, it's the only way to get to know your tank, what it needs, what it has too much of and be able to correct accordingly.

I'm not gonna speak to the skimmer or anything specifically, as i don't have one on mine, just gonna give my two cents on your reliance on the LFS is all, and again, not gonna say you are looking at failure or anything, just saying to keep an eye out, its your tank, your money, your investment of time.

[chefmikea]

will do, perhaps ill keep a lil notepad and log changes/ levels etc...i would enjoy that as part of reg maint. thanks everyone for the help, i will update again soon