RS reef mature starter kit. Trying to cycle tank.

[Birdman3611]

Hey y’all. About to start the Red Sea mature reef start kit to cycle my tank. It says to use the skimmer so i have it on and will try and dial it in over the next week. Should I turn off the reef mat?

 

[FernBluffReef]

Opinions vary widely. I just cycled both of my tanks with RS reef mature last quarter.

I personally turned the skimmer on from the get go but just opened the drain to let it all flow back into the sump. I believe RS wants the skimmer running primarily due to the use of NoPox which for the most part I did not use as I started with dry rock and no lights. I still ran the skimmer as it needs to develop a biofilm to work right. If you have some live rock and running the lights from the start then you may want the NoPox. In the end I used a small amount but not much.

ReefMat. I did not install any media until about day 10-14 when the cycle was close to done or should I say just before starting to add critters

 

[gbroadbridge]

Hey y’all. About to start the Red Sea mature reef start kit to cycle my tank. It says to use the skimmer so i have it on and will try and dial it in over the next week. Should I turn off the reef mat?

If you're starting with live rock - which the RS Mature kit expects - run the skimmer so it can collect any organics from decomposition.

If it's dry rock you can run the skimmer without the cup until you have some animals in the tank.

Either way, I suggest that you do not dose the NoPox as it can cause problems in new tanks.

 

[Birdman3611]

Opinions vary widely. I just cycled both of my tanks with RS reef mature last quarter.

I personally turned the skimmer on from the get go but just opened the drain to let it all flow back into the sump. I believe RS wants the skimmer running primarily due to the use of NoPox which for the most part I did not use as I started with dry rock and no lights. I still ran the skimmer as it needs to develop a biofilm to work right. If you have some live rock and running the lights from the start then you may want the NoPox. In the end I used a small amount but not much.

ReefMat. I did not install any media until about day 10-14 when the cycle was close to done or should I say just before starting to add critters

Super helpful. I’ll probably do the same with the skimmer. I wasn’t planning on having the lights on until after the cycle until I read the instructions. Do you think if I did have them on it would cause algae? So you’re saying no reefmat until day 10?

 

[FernBluffReef]

Super helpful. I’ll probably do the same with the skimmer. I wasn’t planning on having the lights on until after the cycle until I read the instructions. Do you think if I did have them on it would cause algae? So you’re saying no reefmat until day 10?

If Dry rock, lights on during cycle doesn’t make a lot of sense IMO. As Gbroadbridge said ReefMature was designed with live rock in mind,so adjustments may be needed. Even with live rock, I probably would not start lights on personally but I probably would turn them on a bit sooner than I did. Even when I did turn the lights on they were on low and heavier on the blues to reduce algae. Lights out, I had a tiny bit of hair algae on about day four. If lights on I imagine I would have had a lot more which is where the NoPox comes in as algae management, which again for the most part I did not use.

No filter media in the reefmat. Again a personal choice. If I had started with live rock I probably would have put the media in up front. With dry rock I figured it would be wasted.