When to test?

[ivy2dw7]

When should I start testing my ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels? I put the live rock in yesterday, put in a piece of frozen cichlid food (raw meat) in this morning. I'm still trying to adjust the skimmer, I have no idea what's going on with it. I'm not sure if it's doing what it's supposed to be doing, it's just confusing the crap out of me. So maybe someone could tell me 1. when should I start testing the levels, and 2. what should my skimmer be doing to let me know that it is at the right adjustment?? It's a Prizm deluxe, but I don't have the carbon in the media basket, I have a Millenium 3000 to do the filtering.

 

[mana_man19]

Can't help with the skimmer, but it will probably take at least a few days for the tank to do its thing. You can start testing any time you like though. How much live rock do you have in there? What size tank? How much waterflow does the tank have?

 

[ivy2dw7]

It's a 37g, 24x18x21" and I have only about 8 pounds of uncured caribbean live rock in there right now. I have a Millenium 3000 filter and Pengiun 660 powerhead which in total turns the water 12.2 times every hour. Plus however much the skimmer turns. I don't even know how I got all of this stuff on the back of the tank. The skimmer and filter fit just PERFECTLY, and I had to suction the powerhead in front of the intake of the skimmer on the side wall and the heater on the opposite wall infront of the filter. It's safe for the powerhead to be fully submerged, right? Like with the cord getting wet and all? It's not "fully" submerged yet, but when the water level is up with all the liverock, it will be.