Cycling questions!

[Myka]

Holy mackerel! Is that a typo? Is the nitrate really at 110 ppm? If that is not a typo, this is your biggest concern right now, and needs to be reduced significantly before you start to stock the tank. The target for a reef aquarium is "0" with 2 ppm being acceptable. Most corals and other invertebrates will not tolerate high nitrate unless they are slowly acclimatized to it over several weeks, like in situations where aquariums are neglected. If the aquarium is going to be used for fish only, the fish will tolerate up to 200 ppm nitrate, but they will not thrive and will be prone to disease. Fish only aquariums should be kept under 40 ppm.

I would have had the skimmer running on the system from day one of the cycle. There is no reason to not use a skimmer during the cycling stage.