Lights on during cycle?

[pwilk20]

Hi, I started my cycle 4 days ago. Kept the lights on for 12 hrs. Now my beautiful rock from Liverocks.com is turning brownish. Is this normal? Should I leave the lights off during cycle? I`m afraid to loose the gorgeous purple/redish algae on the rocks.

One more question. Should I add a shrimp to speed up the cycling process?

Thanks,

Paul.

 

[Biggen]

Some people will tell you not to run your lights while others tell you to run your lights. You will probably get a difference of opinion with your question. FYI, I didn't run the lights at all when my tank was cycling. I really don't think it will make much of a difference either way though.

One more question. Should I add a shrimp to speed up the cycling process

No, you don't need the shrimp. The die-off on the LR is more than enough to complete the cycle process. Adding the shrimp won't speed this up.

 

[pwilk20]

Ok, no shrimp then. I`ll try to go without lights for the rest of the cycle. Will this cause the good algae to die? And if so, will it eventually come back?

Paul.

 

[SquishyFish]

IME, the lights are not nessisary, but are a good idea. Simply put, coralline needs light to live. 3-6 weeks with out light and its dead. Will it survive the cycle with the lights? Some of it...I run mine, but only on a limited basis. 4-6 hours a day is plenty. You dont want to generate nuisance algaes that you will have to fight later.

Squishy