Stupid Question...

[sharkiegirl94]

I am currently in the 6 week waiting period for my tank to cycle. Is it alright for me to keep my light in the hood on all the time? Is it only sunlight that causes major algae growth? Thanks~

 

[TangoTank]

If there's no plants, not a good idea! An algae bloom is not fun, IMO. I'm battling one!! Ugh...

 

[sharkiegirl94]

Okay, i don't have any live plants, so I'll keep it off during the day. How do live plants affect the algae? I'm new to this.

 

[bigbanker]

Plants, like algae, eat up the nutrients in the water. They are great for looks and water quality. You can add live plants at any point in your cycle..... thereby giving you a reason to turn the light on

 

[sharkiegirl94]

Even if there are no fish yet in the tank i shouldn't have it on? Just to clarify? Thanks~

 

[Jscoggins]

correct...leave you lights off..until u get something in there...algae is a bummer!!!

 

[Freakgecko91]

I'd say leave it on, just on a shortened cycle, like 6-8 hours a day. Odds are that you plan on getting some sort of algae eating fish in the long run, let it be a pleco species or otocinclus, my point is that it's not a bad thing to have some algae. My lights have been on a 12 hour cycle since day one, about 3 months ago, and i have NO algae, due in part to a great clean up crew of nerite snails.

 

[bigbanker]

Do you know what you plan on stocking?

Algae is incredibly easy to grow.... so I'd say no rush on that. But if you really want some.... I've got a glass of green water on my window seal with a piece of ivy in it!