New tank up and running!

[abbeyspal]

Hey everyone just wanted to let you know that I finally took the plunge and set up my tank. It is 60 gal with 65 lbs. of live rock and a 4 inch sand bed. I only have one coral life .03 actinic light right now. My only real problem is the skimmer I just can't seem to get it set. Yesterday it was running fine for an hour so I left the house. I came back home and the collection cup was overfilling and I had like 2 gallons of water on the floor. Now im scared to leave the thing unsupevised. I am also running my canister filter while the rock cures. Does anyone advise against that? Thank's to everyone for all of the help.

 

[Meloco14]

Don't worry, skimmers take a while to get "broken in". My first couple weeks were just like you described, one minute fine, one minute overflowing. I would say just set it lower than you would normally. You don't have much in there to skim yet anyway. You dont really need the skimmer even on until you get some life in there. What skimmer do you have? Maybe people here have some tips for you. The caniser filter should be fine, you don't really need it but it doesn't hurt right now so you might as well use it, i think. If you're just curing rock right now, you don't really need light yet, many times it just creates excess algae. Just make sure you have some water movement, heat, and do water changes once or twice a week. In a couple weeks you'll be ready for your first inhabitants. Have fun!

 

[ChrisRD]

While the rock is curing I would definitely keep the skimmer on. If you don't, ammonia levels could climb rapidly. Good circulation and water changes as needed will also help keep water quality up during curing.