Hmm. Well, for flow, I have a marineland biowheel 350 in a 30 gal tank. My tank has been set up for probably 3 weeks now. no fish. I have one pound of live rock and I turn my light on usually all day, and off at night. My water hasn't been changed yet and my filters haven't been replaced yet since I'm cycling. It's my understanding, that with no fish it's not really necessary to worry about any of those yet, that it will only stunt the ammonia and slow the cycle process. As for testing the water, the only thing I am able to test is the salt level. I don't have test kits for ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. I was gonna hold off on getting those until I was full up on my live rock. I used distilled water to fill the tank. As far as hair algae goes, there's none. I don't see any forms of recognizable algae. just that rust colored stuff on my crushed coral that seems to be manifesting from my live rock, spreading outward away from it, which is also rust colored. Was that way when I bought it. Tank temp is about 76. salt is about 1.025 right now.
should I do a water change (no fish in tank)? filter media change? would that slow down the cycle? you guys are the pros. Whatcha think?
