Lighting for Rock

[Dollarbill]

I just put 100 pounds of LR into a 180 today. Should I leave my lights (3- 175watt - metal halide) on or off? Im really not sure so I have left them on.......so far.. Is that good? thanks. db

[Maxxumless]

New setup? Then off is fine until cycle is over (and a big water change) else you risk having a big algae problem.

[Avi]

I did leave my lighting on when the tank was cycling. I don't have a good reason for it other than the guy at the fish store told me to. I've learned a lot more than he'll ever know since then and most likely it isn't at all necessary. I didn't have any particular algae problems as a result but I don't thing there's anything to gain from leaving the lights on. Keep the skimmer going while the tank's cycling, lights or no lights.

[Dollarbill]

Ok, ill shut em' down. You think a water change Saturday will be to soon or late? thank you. db

[CrOsSwIrE]

How far are you into the cycle? if you havent gone through a full cycle I'd wait for the ammonia/nitrites to hit zero before doing a water change...

[six.line]

There's really no point doing a water change until you're ready to add livestock-- and do this prudently.

[Dollarbill]

I thought i needed to do a water change to "get rid of" the amonia and nitrates? LFS water wont help? thanks

[six.line]

No, what helps get rid of ammonia is the bacteria colonies that convert it to nitrite and then to nitrate. You get rid of nitrate by purposefully growing macro algae that feeds on it. The nutrient export (where you actually remove the nitrate from the system) comes in 'pruning' back your macro algae. Most people grow macro algae in the sump, but some toss it in their display tank. I do. It's ugly, but, it helps. :D

The two most popular kinds of macro are called chaeto and caulerpa, but it seems there's a success story for every way of doing things out there. :D

Water changes help in a plethora of different ways; I don't mean to play them down. You can do small water changes (say 10%) weekly or do 25%-30% water changes per month.

Getting rid of ammonia and nitrate is more a question of what's causing it. New tanks with die-off cause ammonia. Ammonia is a rare (we're talking Cubs winning the world series rare) problem with established tanks. Once your rock and sand house good colonies of bacteria you won't have ammonia problems.

Nitrate, on the other hand, is a common problem. Most often it comes from improper filtration: bio-balls and other mechanical filters that aren't maintenanced often have build up of materials that cause nitrates and phosphates. Really, the best way to fight nitrates is with growing macro algae.

[CrOsSwIrE]

I agree with Chris on everything but the Cubs. This is the year :)

[Chromed1]

Chris,

Now that analogy wasn't very nice! Probably very true but, not nice. LOL! Go Cubbies!!!

[WaterKeeper]

Sorry to contradict here but all that water changes will do is get all that nasty stuff now concentrating in the water column out of your tank. You don't want this stuff in your tank so large water changes are the best method of removing it. It doesn't slow down the cycle one bit and will pay off in a shorter algae bloom period. Coralline is algae and needs light to grow. Usually a normal rooms lighting will substain it for some time but it really doesn't hurt to run those lamps for a few hours per day. Besides that will allow those MH lamps to burn in if they are new.

Here's a great thread-Beginner's Guide to LR (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=165224)

[Dollarbill]

I kind of thought the water change would help too. Im also going to look into growing the macro! Anybody else have any suggestions? Thanks db

[Avi]

For growing macro-algae, I recommend this bulb:

http://www.lightsofamerica.com/floods.htm

I tried some other bulbs that have been recommended very highly here in RC, but when I put this one on, the Chaeto took off like never before....I got it at Home Depot. In fact, I've had consistenly elevated nitrates...about 30 to 35ppm, and now after some weeks, it's down to about 5.

[adam_not4u]

Waterkeeper... I agree with the water changes and lights on. 100%
I'd also keep the flow in the tank up also! The lights (even though others are likely to disagree) I'd keep on reg. cycle.. like mentioned earlier with the lights and flow will induce coraline growth. Also, there are some wicked colors in sponges and I for one would not be pleased if I got some sweet colors only to turn my lights on after cycle and everything die off.

[Dollarbill]

Im going to leave the lights on the normal cycle then put different lights (cheaper to run) in there since its a fowlr tank. Off to the lfs this morning for some water! Thank you all for yourhelp. db