I've set up my 29g biocube and started to cycle almost 2 weeks ago and from what I've heard i should be seeing algae start to grow but i have no signs of any. I'm pretty sure the problem is that I'm a big green dummy and have hardly had my lights on but i plan on getting them on the timer starting tomorrow morning. I also have my pumps. skimmer and everything else running right now should i shut some of them off or keep them running?
Algae growth
- Thread starter nladd
- Start date
When I started my old tank almost 9 years ago I cycled for about 2 months without lights period. Your bacteria just plain doesn't need it, and it saved me 2 months of my T5s' lives. About the only real benefit to light and algae growth during cycling is it'll help some with your final nitrate spike, as the algae'll eat it up slowly. For example, my tank's final nitrates were over 500ppm after cycling (of course this is expected when you use 110 lbs of uncured live rock to cycle). Algae will lower that, but it's nothing you can't also just correct with a couple 50% WCs after cycling.
