Cycle tank with lights on or off??

Matt

Matt

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Do I cycle my marine tank with the lights on or off? :blushing:
Might have some zooanthids i'd like to keep alive but also don't want to invite algae in there... Suggestions?
 
Keep your lighting cycle to a max of 5-6 hours per day, that will keep the algae down, can you take a shot of the "zoas"?
 
Greed I would go with lights on as wellm else that part of the cycle will just start when you do switch them on
 
So if I keep the lights on for 5 - 6 hours per day that'll suffice?

Wee-Man here's a pic of the "zoas" (well thats what they've been ID'd as) :)

Stuff.jpg
 
If your live rock is close to cured, and ammonia/nitrites/nitrates are not too high I'd add some cleanup members and leave the light on for 5-8 hours per day.
 
well the guys have said it.lights on.i remember reading sometime years back in one of my books,that if you cycle with the lights out,and once the cycle has terminated and you turn the lights on,thats when the algea breakout will begin.
ive seen and heared of people taking extreme measures when cycling a tank,ie.covering it with a sheet.
but i will go with lights on....max 8 hours a day
 
LikesFish said:
If your live rock is close to cured, and ammonia/nitrites/nitrates are not too high I'd add some cleanup members and leave the light on for 5-8 hours per day.
Click to expand...


Just to give Matt an idea, what is your idea of "not too high"?
 
Well low enough that the inverts are not affected by it... So Ammonia of < 0.1mg/L, Nitrite < 0.2 mg/L, Nitrate < 20mg/L.
 
i see the alge as part of the cycle if your tank runs proper it wil start with red alge then turn to green and after that long brown and then it will go away and your nice pink and hard green alge will start to grow well that is how i see it dont know if i am wrong though
 
Is hard green algae a good thing? Hows it different to the soft stuff?
 
I think he was referring to another form of coralline algae that is just green in colour- not purple.
 
no the green alge is like the pink it is calcareous but there is some hard bristle short green alge as well
 
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