Ok, LR is in the tank. Now what?

[innsmouth]

Just but 60lbs. of "semi" cured LR into our 92 corner tank. What's next? The SG is a little high at 1.026. Should I top off with RO water? There has been a good bit of evaporation so it could probably use it I think. PH is at about 8.0 should I use B-IONIC? The company I bought the rock from recommended it. We didn't use any LS but there's 100 lbs. of Southdown in there. BTW, the water cleared up over night as soon as we put the rock in. It was cloudy for almost 2 weeks before that. Should I start testing now? The skimmer pulled a bunch of wet foam for a while and now isn't doing much. Do I need to make adjustments to it now? 2 Maxi-Jet 1200s are running through the Wavemaster for circulation. There is a slight smell from the rock but I suppose that is normal right?
So I guess my main question is am I heading in the right direction? and what should my next steps be.
Sorry for the chaotic nature of this post but there's a lot of stuff to think about now that I'm rolling along. lol

 

[humuhumu]

It sounds like human nature and the anticipation of adding new animals to your reef is starting to get the best of you.
If your rock is only semi cured you need to give it some time to make sure all of the die off is complete. You should probably give the new rock a rinse, do this by placing it in a bucket of saltwater and use a power head directed at all the nooks and cranies, blowing away anything that might be loose and dead. Remove all sponges, they grow back fast, you dont need them fouling up things. Once you have it all cleaned up, give it a good shake to remove anything loose that you might have missed before you put it back in the display tank. Make sure everything is where you want it and stable. When the rock is fully cured there shouldn't be any foul smell.
I don't know much about the sand that you are using, but in time it will be colonized (live) with the same bacteria and animals that are on your live rock.
And yes, top off with RO, you don't want your SG all over the chart.
B-Ionic is a fair product for maintaining your calcium, I use it and have been satisfied with the results.
To satisfy yourself further, there's no harm in running test to check the rest of your parameters.
And yes, it sounds like you are heading in the right direction. Keep up the good work and dont rush things.

 

[innsmouth]

Thanks for the reply and the advice. I am in no hurry to do anything with this tank. I want to experience this the right way. Sounds like a plan.

 

[birdy]

I have found while cycling a tank there is no point in trying to adjust the pH, alk, or calcium, it will be all over the place during the cycle, you can fix it once the tank is done cycling.
Right now the best thing to do is just monitor your Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate levels, you will see Ammonia and Nitrite rise then fall and nitrates rise, When Ammonia and Nitrite are 0 and nitrates are below 40 then you are done cycling and you can do water changes to get your nitrates lower and pH, alk and Ca back to snuff.
Since your rock is semi-cured it probably wouldn't hurt to run your skimmer during the cycle.

 

[innsmouth]

The skimmer pulled a bunch of wet foam for a while and now isn't doing much. Do I need to make adjustments to it now?
I just messsed with it a little bit. Do I want a steady rising of bubbles up into the tapered tube that is part of the collection cup? Seems like there was a lot of water in it this morning.

 

[dreeves]

Adjust it to where there is a dark nasty looking stuff in the collection cup...clear liquid is not the skimmate you are trying to obtain...depending on the skimmer you have you may slow the pressure in it down a little, and keep monitoring its progress.

 

[innsmouth]

Well, the water in the collection cup is definitley darker and cruddier than the tank and sump water but still not like the pictures of "good" skimmate. Seems like I adjust it and then check after a while and it just stops skimming.