what about lights during the cycle-how long??

[lmh11706]

can i and how long can i leave the the lights on during my initial cycle-ive been told 5 hrs a day

i have 216watts t-5ho light fixture

during the cycle -how long for the blues only

how long for the whole thing-daylight and blues

[FranktheTankTx]

Sometimes a little common sense can go along ways. What exactly are you lighting? You don't need lights during an initial tank set up/cycle. Once your tank cycles - begin a 4 hour light period & increase weekly until you're at desired length.

Running the lights during a cycle only promotes diatoms & algae break outs. Which none of us want - and end up posting "what is this growing on my sand & glass?" or "how do I get rid of ...?"

There's very little growth on your rock that will survive the cycle anyways if you're using a shrimp or uncured LR to cycle the tank.

Now, if you use established live rock from another system - totally different story because you probably won't have a cycle.