Berlin airlift 90

[jenreadsalot]

So I Got my first tank, a 30 gallon.... Placed 30 lbs of live sand in it... Set up a powerhead.... Set up my 50/50 lights. Now a couple of questions.
I purchased a Berlin Airlift 90, I was told for the moment it would be fine, but the little cup on top keeps filling up with water, instantly, I knew I would have to change the cup often but this often????
Other question, I also purchased a Penguin 330 bio-wheel power filter, should I hook it up and start running it now?
Live rock is not going to be added for a couple of weeks.
Thanks in advance!
Jen

[alexwolf]

I would add the penguin for aeration (sp?) of the water. Powerhead is great for underwater, but i will would run the Pengiun. Gets the surface tension broken up. Skimmers take time to break in, and it gets frustrating sometimes. If the cup is filling up instantly, you probably need to adjust it, or raise it up. I am not familiar with that particular skimmer, but if its anything like my BakPak, you can raise the level of the cup.

[Instar]

Can you just take the top off the cup and let it flow back into the tank? You don't need a skimmer if you have plenty of aeration in a new tank. Skimmers take out a lot of the seeding bacteria and micro organisms that will come from the sand and rocks. You want those larval organisms and pods in there if you intend on a living reef system. If you just want a sterile FO, then it really doesn't matter. But, like Alex said, it takes time to break in a new skimmer. It may foam or do nothing at all at first. Let it flow back into the tank if its real thin or you'll be dumping too many trace elements and living organisms out along with that thin stuff. Sounds like you already dumped a lot of the micro organisms in the live sand anyway. Thats what you get in that cup until it seeds out and colonizes.

[jenreadsalot]

Do I need to stir the sand around any?

[Instar]

No, the sand will take care of it self as long as it was healthy to start with. You might want to add creatures that mix the sand up a little bit if they are not already in the sand you have. Like little micro stars and worms of all kinds as well as Nassarius snails.

[jenreadsalot]

Thank you for your advice, I need all I can get!