Lights on or off??

[mattyg18]

I'm 11 days into my cycle. I used pure ammonia to start the cycle. The ammonia is at zero, and the nitrites are starting to drop. 60 gallon cube with 50 lbs cured rock and 5 lbs live rock. Tank is pretty clean so far. I have not used lighting yet. Most of what i've read says not to.

My only concern is that do I need lighting for the live rock I added last week? I read somewhere that you need the lights for the live rock to stay live. Not sure if that is correct or not. Hopefully I dont.

If anyone has thoughts on this it is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[OrQidz]

You don't need lighting for the live rock, so no worries. The only way you would need lighting is if you have live rock with coral or macroalgae hitchikers you want to keep thriving. But the good bacteria will do just fine in the dark.

[Tflow256]

Light is not necessary to keep live rock alive. However some choose to run the lights early on in the cycle to help go through the "uglies" stage (diatoms,algae,cyano etc) while the tank is cycling rather than battling it while trying to stock the tank. I slowly ramped up lightning after the first 2 weeks of my cycle

[AquaAdam]

Tflow you said you slowly ramped up the lighting, how did you go about doing that? 20% increments?

[mattyg18]

Thanks for the replies fellas....

I would also be interested in how Tflow256 ramped up his lighting. My nitrites are already starting to drop on day 12 and I dont see much algae. Only some brown stuff on the live rock I bought and a little brown on a few other of the dry rocks I added in. The water is crystal clear. The guy at the lfs told me that when my nitrites start to drop i'm going to have an algae bloom.

[homer1475]

To minimize the "uglies"(typical algae outbreaks that occur in a new setup), leave you lights off till fully cycled. Then do just a few hours a day until you start stocking it with things that need light to survive.

I'm on my third tank now, and have done it this way on all 3 and I get hardly any "uglies". I do get the normal diatoms, and cyano outbreaks, but seem to avoid all the pesky algaes.

[Ron Reefman]

mattyg18, be prepared for lots of other things to happen for the next 6 to 12 months after your tank is cycled. There will be at least an algae bloom or two, maybe even a bacteria bloom. It's all part of a cycled tank going through maturity. The blooms will only last as long as there is excess food for whatever it is that blooms. Take your time and enjoy what you get.

As for lights while cycling. The bacteria that makes LR live don't need light to grow and populate. But some hitchhikers on your LR, both good and bad, probably would like light. It's a roll of the dice.

[AquaAdam]

mattyg18, be prepared for lots of other things to happen for the next 6 to 12 months after your tank is cycled. There will be at least an algae bloom or two, maybe even a bacteria bloom. It's all part of a cycled tank going through maturity. The blooms will only last as long as there is excess food for whatever it is that blooms. Take your time and enjoy what you get.

As for lights while cycling. The bacteria that makes LR live don't need light to grow and populate. But some hitchhikers on your LR, both good and bad, probably would like light. It's a roll of the dice.

Good to know. Thanks for sharing:thumbsup:

[mattyg18]

Great info. Thanks everyone and good luck Adam. Sounds like you're cycling like me.