Newbie Cycling Question

[G Hewitt]

Setting up a tank for the first time. I have just added live rock to the tank, should lighting be on or off while the tank cycles?Tried to search fourm but search feature is down. Thanks

 

[adnup]

I'm almost positive you dont need the lights on for cycling

 

[gbtrain]

I would leave the lights off during your cycle

 

[Henry Bowman]

^^^^ adnup is correct, in fact, I think you are waaay better off with the lights off until the cycle is done. (this is a controversial subj.)

However, I know this for certain.... While the rock cycles, the water chemistry will become very desirable for algae outbreaks (nutrients increase). If you run the lights during the cycle, you could possibly have an algae outbreak ! I have cycled several tanks in the past few years and I always do it with the lights off. I change the water several times while the tank is cycling 10-15% at a time and then do a 75% change when I am sure the tank cycle is slowing (ammonia and nitrite are near 0. Nitrates will still be reading at this time).

HTH

 

[G Hewitt]

Thanks for the replies! Thought I had done all my home work but I am finding I still have more questions then answers.

 

[bertoni]

It's a personal choice. Leaving the lights off will help reduce the odds of problems from an invasive macroalga. Lighting the tank might help reduce the intensity of the cycle and help photosynthetic organisms. I suspect either way is about identical in most cases.

 

[mrbill70]

It was recommended to me to leave the lights on for 2 hours a day. This way the coralline gets some light (it does well under low light conditions), but it doesnt cause a huge algae outbreak of all the types you dont want.