DSB, Cycling, and Light

I am running a DSB (6.5") in my fuge and just finished 1st week of cycling. I have been running the light on my fuge 24hrs to keep the ph stabilized and I put a rock in there from a friends fuge with a little plant growth to keep it alive. Today I noticed numerous green and brown spots all over the top of the fuge sand bed. Is that normal or is that algae grown from the light? Should I keep the light off in the fuge while cycling? Thanks

 

Completely normal. Most likely diatoms that will die off near the middle of the cycle.

Ph and light wont matter much during the cycle. If you need them to keep some macro alive though it wont matter much either way.

 

Great, thanks!