Aquarium Lighting ?

[DesertFish]

Hi guys. I just started up a new 56g tank last week, doing a cycle WITH fish unfortunately (5 Zebra Danios right now but adding 2 more females today). I lost one on the 2nd night but in the week since everything has been going swimmingly Doing 20% PWCs daily.

I have some questions and will keep them one per thread, lol.

My 1st question is, what are the advantages and disadvantages to using my aquarium light? Sure, the tank looks better with it on, but I have read that it can stress the fish under some circumstances, and also than it can encourage algae growth?

Any insight on how and when I should and shouldn't use the light would be appreciated. This is one of the few topics I haven't been able to find much info on. I kept it off for the 1st couple of days, but since then it seems like the fish are more active and swim more toward the top of the tank when it's on.

Thanks!

 

[Crepe]

until you're cycled it's best not to add any lighting. Your water parameters are not balanced yet so you may end up having algae issues. And also, next time you cycle do the fish a favor and use Ammonia to cycle instead of fish. Some suggest cleaning ammonia. I suggest that you wrap your tank up so it's utterly dark and dosing with some Ammoniacal- Nitrogen that's found in any terrestrial plant fertilizer. I say wrap it up because the other nutrient in the fertilizer tends to spurt algae.

 

[jsoong]

Just to be clear. Crepe is talking of wrapping the tank & keeping it in the dark if you do a fishless cycle to prevent algae.

Fish would need a bit of light to see so they can feed. Although you can keep the fish in the dark for a few days, I think it is healthier to have some light on with fishy cycling. (since your cycle will take weeks ...)

To keep down algae, I would decrease the light duration (&/or intensity). If you have super bright lights (like for a planted tank), I would noly run just one or 2 bulbs. <For stock lights, just use it as is ... there is usu. only 1 bulb > You might want to cut the light duration to just a few hours a day. That should be enough to keep algae at bay.

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

Honestly algae isnt that big of a problem when it comes to cycling..IMO i should add. It is a huge problem if your tank gets a lot of direct sunlight or your keeping the light on 12 plus hours a day. If your having problems with algae then i would look at fixing those or going with jsoong's suggestions.

I run my tank on a schedule (not on a timer but pretty much exact every day) of lights on from 8am to 11am then off till 5pm and on till 10pm that 9 hours now give or take some human error like sleeping past 8 but for the most part 8 hours.