I ran my cycle in one week. I got live rocked that has been cured for 17 years from a friend and his tank seeded my live sand. I ran the protein skimmer to wear it in, to make sure its doing what it needs to. My lights were off during the whole cycle. My heater was in and on Set up a solid foundation, get that water moving. Once you establish that your golden. Below is my tank in a month. Few more dozen corals is my goal