75gal reef in progress

Hey all this is my 75gal in progress. I used to have a SW tank about 5 years ago and decided to get back in the game. I have 70lbs cured LR in there right now. Tomorrow I will purchase about 20lbs Carib live sand for the main tank. I want to go thin on the bedding. I'm debating between Fiji Pink and the Black, what do you all think? I have a SS 125 not hooked up right now, I'm debating putting it in during the cycle or waiting till after. I'm also going to pick up some algae tomorrow for the fuge and put my light on top. The pump is a Mag 9.5. The lights are the Coralife Lunars with 2 65watt actinics and 2 65 watt 50/50. I like the blue look. Made all the RO myself, it took 3 days to make. It;s my buddies unit so I made an extra 15 gallons and also my LFS sells it for .35/gallon. The only issue I can see I might have is the temp. It looks like I'm going to have to invest in a chiller. The hot temp of today sky rocketed the tank temp. Hopefully I'm on the right track. Approximately how long do you it'll take to cycle my tank?
UPDATE with Water Params: 75lbs LR and 30lbs "live" sand with macro in the fuge added 4/26/09..
Readings on 4/27
PH: 8.0-8.1
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 0.1
Using Red Sea Pro Lab

-Brett

 

ill take a shot at this, as far as a date their isnt really a set date all tanks are different and i believe your tank will tell you when you are done cycling when your test come back zero also from what ive read lights isnt a good idea during cycling can cause algea problem also no skimmer during cycling, also might look at a couple small computer fans before a chiller because they aint cheap and might save you some money, looking good though also couple throw few raw shrimp in there to help out the process

 

ill let the more experienced people on here help you out the rest of they way

 

the live rock you put in and the live sand will already have started your cycle, there really isn't a set time period some cycle in a month some 6 weeks, you just have to keep an eye on your parameters. I wouldn't run the lights during the cycle or the skimmer and don't do any water changes until the cycle is done.

one alternative to a chiller is put a air conditioner in the room.
other than that it looks like your off to a good start.

what do you plan on keeping stock wise?

 

looking good!!;D
My lights are jacking up my temp in my new tank as well

 

You have PC lighting? PCs don't really raise the temperature that much, unless there is very little ventilation in the room or within the fixture. How long do you have the lights on? Do you have a heater? What is the ambient temperature in the room?

 

well temp hit 95 degrees outside here in PA today. I have central air but I didn't put it on today. There is a fan in the room I had going. There are 2 windows in the room that were open. I think I will look into putting a window unit in there. The PC lighting is leftover from my old tank. I'm going to add some T5's when it comes to adding corals which I believe I'm still about 2 months off. I'm looking at a hippo, black clown, foxface and a few other reef dwelling fish. I'm thinking of doing the lights in the main tank for 8-10 hours while doing the lights in fuge on a 12hr opposite cycle from the main. What do you all think?

 

sounds good man thats my plan also should be starting a75g soon as well should help balance your ph with that cycle

 

Kinda off the wall thing I noticed, but that hose clamp on the return is going to rust being right over the water...if the hose fits on the pump tight, it wont come off.

 

The clamp is out of the sump, there is no water touching it. The tank if on the 2nd story of my house and I had a toilet overflow overnight a few years ago and destroyed 3 rooms on the 1st floor and into the basement. I guess you could say I'm a little paranoid about it flying off when I'm not around.