NEW! a few skimmer and start up questions??

Kyle lanoue · Oct 5, 2015

im new to salt water and have a few questions. well first off i was planning on setting my 75gallon tank up but ended up doing my 45 gallon. i have a new reef octous bh2000 hob skimmer and 2 hydor 1150. do you think this will be overkill? or should it be fine to run the 2 1150? i have 40lbs of live black sand and 50lbs of live cured fiji rock... i will be filling it wtih 25 gallons of pre mixed salt water from my LFS and 20 gallons from one of there tanks thats already cycled.

how do i initially start up my RO BH2000? i have it all put together and ready to roll ill be getting all the water rock and sand tomorrow

also how often should i clean or check my skimmer? and how do i adjust it so i know its working properly?

during my cycle should i have both power heads and skimmer going 24/7 for a few weeks? what do you guys think?

sorry again if this all seems dumb i just want to do it somewhat right the first time. any and all help or constructive criticism is appreciated. thanks

melypr1985 · Oct 5, 2015

I wouldn't use the LFS's tank water. It's not going to do anything positive and could do bad things like introduce parasites like ick or velvet into your new tank. Just use all new water.
I dont have that skimmer but for mine, i simply plugged it in and let it run until it was broken in. At that point i started dialing it in... again i dont have that skimmer so i can't help with that part.
I clean my skimmer once a month and empty the cup when it's full. I can't comment on the other equipment as i dont own any of it.

Kyle lanoue · Oct 6, 2015

Thanks a ton I'm going to go with pure new salt water.. a few people told me to get "cycled water".. that's your I asked.. thanks

Wiz · Oct 6, 2015

Agree with fresh water. No used salt. Lol also I would run the equipment 24/7. The idea is to run it like its set up already. Anythu ng you would run when its ready, run now. Its all about consistancy. I am a fan of flow. Lots of it. Not so much of pumps in my tank. So if one is enough flow use that. But I'm betting two would be better. I've never used a hob skimmer. So no idea on that. I clean my skimmer cup once a week. And empty when full.
There are no dumb questions! Always better to be sure. And your on the forum that best suits learning your answers. Simple or not.
All imo of course.
Good luck

Harold Green · Oct 6, 2015

You really don't need to run the skimmer during run in of the tank but if it has a cup drain hose you can open it back into the tank and let the skimmer run until the tank and skimmer are both cycled and ready to go. You don't want to remove anything from the tank while it's cycling. Don't add any chemical filters, etc. until the tank is cycled.

Salty0331 · Oct 6, 2015

To address the skimmer cleaning....there a plenty of ways all level of reefers clean their skimmers. I have been reefing for 16 yrs and I was taught by "old school reefers" with that being said, you should consider your skimmer one of the most important, if not the most important part of your filtration. When you get build up in the neck of the cup it will reduce the skimmers capability of function properly.

I like to clean my cup every three days in or so, depending on the bio load. Also about every six months I remove the skimmer from the sump and let it soak in a water/vinegar bath. This with aid in the removal of any coralline build up.

It all depends on the reefers level of commitment to the success of their ecosystem! Remember, a properly functioning skimmer is one of the important steps that = happy reef! [emoji106]