question on cycling

[mcatgt]

i just started cycling my 46 gallon reef setup. i have a protein skimmer, should i run that while im cycling the tank? Should i run the lights? Also, i notice the water has alot of very small "fibers" for lack of a better word floating around..not sure what it is, anyway the water isnt cystal clear like i think it should be, should it be? Ive only been cycling for 4 days now.

 

[Anonymous]

I would run the skimmer full tim and keep the lights on a reduce photo period. SOmthing in the range of 2-4 hours for a while. THis should give the photosynthetic animals enough light to live but reduce the algea bloom.

 

[ynd]

Do you have a sump? or is it just a piggybak skimmer? What I did when I first started was put some filtering foam in my sump just to clear up the water to get rid of the floaties.

 

[mcatgt]

i have a amiracle wet/dry system with protein skimmer set up. I actually started over, i dont think i cleaned the sand as well as i should have the first time. it seems to look clearer now. maybe it was alot of sand dust floating..