What to do next? I think my tank is cycled...

Your super skimmer is dumpping bubbles for 2 reasons.
#1 Its broke in yet.
#2 its not adjusted yet.

I run the same skimmer.So heres what you need to do.
Take the valve thats coming off the pump and just open it half way.That does 2 things,It cuts down on the water pumping through the skimmer.Next use the red control knob thats next to the collection cup and turn it untill the bubbles are right up at the bottom of the cone.
Let it run like for a week then open the flow valve all the way and adjust the bubbles under the cone untill their more or less in the middle between the red coupling and the cone.
 
I'm going out of town next weekend, so i hope to get this figured out before then... I bought a ball valve today and 2 things to attach it to my vinyl tubing, but now when I get home my pump section is overrun, i shut off the pump for 5 seconds to let the overflow catch up, and its still over the last baffle yet after a few hours... so maybe it was just the first night break in... I doubt it would have been evaporation, my display never went down 1/4 an inch in the last 2 weeks or so. I know that section is much smaller and has less surface area so the evaporation will be multiplied, but still a few inches a night? that seems crazy to me. How do these auto top off things work? and how expensive are they?
 
Also now I noticed my overflow is much fuller... it was only at about an inch tops in the bottom before it drained, now there are like 3 inches of excess water in it, i think i lowered it a little bit, maybe that fixed the issue? it is 600 gph with 1" hosing, and my return is 700 at 0 feet with half inch... I dont know how it can be moving too much when its going through that check valve and 4 feet of tubing...
 
Its hard to help when I'm not familiar with the equipment you have except the mag.You are right,you shouldn't have to throttle back the flow but there is some kind of fluctuation going on withe the overflow.

I think an ATO is a luxury,it shouldn't be a necessity.There are cheap diy ATO out there but buying one will run about 100 bucks for a decent one.
 
I did a little more modding on my sump, I took the 3/4 inch piece of acrylic that I cut off the pump section and siliconed it onto the top of the baffle that was getting water flowing over it when it shouldnt be. Now it doesnt flow over, the pubbles are still kinda bad, but i gotta wait for the skimmer to break in, then worry about it.

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Is it safe to have my heater sitting in the sand? it doesnt fully submerge anywhere else except the display...
 
The heater is fine for now but you are going to want to move it after rocks and macro algae.If it doesn't fit on the back glass of the fuge then try the first chamber that houses the skimmer.
 
Does the heater need to be completely submerged? Some types they only need to be so far. You could stand it on end if this is the case.
 
I think i just fixed my overflow/pump problem... I just turned the screws out all the way and now its flowing like a raging river! the pump section filled up completely now... im just on my way out so i guess im gunna stay and keep an eye on it and make sure its not too much now...
 
As for fish now, I finally got a net yesterday to try to catch these damNsels. If i can accomplish this, what should be my next fish out of my list? Clowns, royal gramma, bicolor pseudochromis, 6 line wrasse, freidmani pseudochromis? Thats just a general list, the wrasse is at the LFS, but someone said add wrasse last, but liveaquaria.com says he is a peaceful fish? but they can bully other easily intimidated fish... Any other suggestions on fish? I was a tank that gets along, nothing aggressive, semi at max. and I am gong to get some soft corals and stuff eventually... so reef safe... and what order should I look at for adding these fish?
 
Most start off with clowns first. If you want two be sure to get them at the same time and different sizes.
 
alright, my LFS has like 3 or 4 clowns, but not a single one of them get along worth a crap. So i think I might go to wausau, they have a petco there, I know i dont hear good things about petco, but they had a bunch of little clowns together in a tank and none seemed to be fighting...
Man i cant get over how cool this cleaner shrimp is, i feed him by hand, I hold some food in my finger tips and lower my hand right down to him, he climbs on my hand and picks the food out of my fingers!
 
There arent many places around here to buy marine fish... I really like the maroon/yellow clowns, but marshfield and an hour away in wausau have none, i could try going an hour in the other direction...
 
I got clowns from our petco and they did real good. Until I added a new fish to my MT which I didn't QT. To make story short it killed all my fish.
 
They all say power: 120 watt, is that what the ballasts are putting out through those lights, even though the bulbs are like 260 watts total? if so that would be pretty lame...
 

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