Lighting timers while cycling?

Hi all! This is my first post on 3reef... I've had a freshwater 20g for 2 years and now I'm finally making the change to a 29g reef. I've got a good 2-3 inches of live sand in the bottom along with 18lbs of pre-cured live rock (10lb nice purple indonesian rock, 8lb fiji). I have 2 65W PC bulbs (one 10,000K, one actinic) and some moon LEDs. I set this all up 2 weeks ago (with tap water, which I shortly thereafter realized was a mistake... now I'm using water I buy directly from the LFS). I'm running ~10hrs with the lights on and ~14 with them off... I leave the moon LEDs on all the time because they're 1 watt each (I have two). For the first 7 days I added the recommended dose of a stability solution, and after about day 5 I got a *huge* brown diatom explosion. I have a simple carbon filter, a red sea deluxe prizm skimmer (which I'm leaving off.... side note, should I be having this on? Most people seem to say no on forums), and a rotating powerhead. My water temp is a stable 79-80 degrees, and my pH is 8.0 (could be a little higher). Anyway, today (about 1.5 weeks in from start) I got 5 crabs and 6 snails. So far so good.

Anyway, my question is this: How long each day should I be leaving these lights on? I'm currently right around zero nitrites and ammonia, and my tank appears cycled [though I certainly won't buy any fish or anything for at least another 1.5-2 weeks].

Thanks for all of your help! 3reef seems awesome

 

welcome to 3 reef

recent change of heart from me regarding skimmers during cycle - it cant hurt to run then IMO

lghts without any higher life forms such as corals etc in the tank, many people run the tank with no lighting at all for a period of weeks (up to 12 in my case)
this is done simply to try and prevent nuisance algae blooms which are common in new tanks , especially those that are set up with live rock (rock will have algae spores on them and this coupled with fact bacteria will not be present in adequate QTYS to deal with nurtients)

some have the lights on for an hour or so each day just for viewing checking etc

Steve

 

I am currently cycling like my gfs 29 and we dont run the lights at all

 

Is it ok to keep the lights off 24/7 except for moon LEDs when I have 5 crabs/5 snails in there? are they alright without a light source?

 

Yes David IME - I had snails and hermits in my tank before bringing lights on line
and in fact even had a fish in there a YTB - I put the lights on for an hour or so in the evening so I could watch my fish

gradually bringing the lights up to full daylight photo period is a method often used to try and control nuisance algae outbreaks.

4 weeks without light
week 5 - 2 hours
week 6 - 4 hours
week 7 - 6 hours
etc until you reach your target of 10 -12 hours

in addition adding GFO ( Phosphate removal resin) in a reactor at this stage
is also a good idea - prevention being easier than cure , for any potential algae outbreaks

Steve

 

Thanks Steve!

I've been running 10 hour lights for the entirety of the cycle so far, is it bad to switch them off now and slowly bring them back up? Or should I just leave them on? I've already experienced a giant diatom bloom and my levels are dropping down to zero [for now... I know to expect some other possible spikes].

Also since I started with Tap water, I've been using Pura Complete:
PURA Complete
per the advice of a LFS I trust. Is this what you mean by a phosphate removal resin? I've stuck it behind my carbon pad in my HOB filter.

 

welcome to 3reef

 

Hi David

If I where you as you have already started running the lights, I would just monitor your tank and if you detect problems early,cut back a little on the lighting period so it does not overun you and gives the snails and crabs a chance to catch up.

Daitoms are not affected by light, they use up silicates to construct their skeletons, when they are all gone they go away

That Pura complete does have a Phosphate remover

are you going to be switching to RO or RODI for top offs and future water changes?
as there are other elements in tap water depending where you are, that can make it problematic for reefs ( levels of undesirables vary from region to region)
silicates for example, you could see repeated cases of diatoms or worse IME

Steve

 

Definitely, I'll never use tap water again. My LFS has 50 cents a gallon for RO freshwater water, which I use for top offs now and will mix with reef crystals salt for water changes. What "problems" would I be detecting that I should be watching for?

 

Hi David
IME - micro algae is often the 1st indicator that nutrient levels are high , the stuff that covers the glass. if for example you are cleaning the glass every other day, then that could be a sign that the more complicated algaes could follow

also testing - in the early stages test for Nitrate and Phosphate regularly at least once a week (I used to test twice during 1st few months) - if you get detectable Phosphate then thats the time to renew your resin

also its always a good idea to ensure you have an adequate cleanup crew as those different species of snails, that specialise in different areas of the tank (rocks, sand, glass) will also ensure you dont get overun later

Start a tank thread in the show off your fish tank section of this site

that way you will have a record of your set up and can look back on its progress over time

Steve