protein skimmer maintenance..Berlin...

[mrcopitr]

Hi guys,

My new reef is up and running and the live rock are curing...I plan to turn on the lights in about a week, the LR will have been curing for 3 weeks by then...do you think I should wait longer before turning the lights...a long of photo period should I start with,,,

On the skimmer...what needs to be cleaned except of the collection cup....and how often...

Also I seem to get less foam produced then when I first introduced the rocks...does this means that they are pretty mutch cured......

Thank you all for the great help provided so far...

best regards

Marco

[DJ88]

Hey Marco,

I clean my skimmer once or twice a week. As soon as the crud in the neck gets so thick I cna't see light throught it is a good indication. At times this may mean you clean it quite often but it is worth it. I clean everything that gets a thick goo on it.

You can cure your LR with the lights on. images/smiles/icon_smile.gif everything will be fine. As well you may keep some beneficial hitchiker algae alive. images/smiles/icon_smile.gif If you wanted to increase the lighting go for it. For LR I wouldn't be too concerned. By running it with no lights you will be killing off everything that requires light on the LR. This may extend the cycle length. Turn em on and keep an eye on the levels.

The best way to determine if the curing is done is to watch the cyling of your tank. Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates. Once they all hit zero you are done cycling and curing. Doesn't get much easier than that. Be patient and don't add any livestock till the reasings are zero and you are off to a great start.