New Tank Cycle - What to expect

[dmkahlan]

I'm about a week and half into my initial cycle. I have a 75gal with 100lbs of live rock, and 1"-2" of live sand. I'm using RO/DI water. My early pH is 8.3 and salinity is sitting around 1.023. Ammonia has not spiked yet.

I have a good bit of Hair Algae growing on my live rock. I know the tank will normally go through a number of phases and things should clear themselves up, but is that normal? Should I do anything different?

My bigger question, what else should I expect during the initial cycle?

 

[showtime305]

<span style="color: black;">The only noticeable things you will see are an algae, diatom, and/or cyno bacteria outbreaks. The chance of any of them going away without some assistance is very slim. After you have seen your ammonia spike and your nitrite spike is beginning to drop, it is time to begin adding a cleanup crew.</span>

 

[dmkahlan]

Thanks for the quick replies. Another question, should I be cycling my tank with the lights on or off?

 

[showtime305]

You should leave them off to cut back on the light the algae needs to thrive. Some people run them for a few hours per day for viewing pleasure.

 

[showtime305]

:showoff: Oh Yeah!!!

 

[dmkahlan]

Thanks. I turned the lights off today. I'll run it that way for a little bit and then slowly work them back in.

 

[dakota]

When you decide to turn them back on again, running actinics only for 3 or 4 hours a day will help keep your coralline algae developing without encouraging the nuisance algae.

I ran only the actinics 24/7 for two weeks after a lightless period of two months. No nuisance algae. Just my experience.

 

[jjw]

Actually, lights on or lights off, water change or no water change during cycling, I am getting conflicting information:
http://www.nano-reef.com/articles/?article=8">http://www.nano-reef.com/articles/?article=8</a>, according to this: "
So what should you do during the cycle? Keep your lights running on their regular 10-12 hour schedule. Do not cycle your tank with the lights off, unless you want the life on the live rock to die off. Do not perform any partial water changes during the the process, as doing so will stall the cycle from completing. Some people have experimented with doing very small water changes during the cycle to keep the ammonia levels from getting extremely high. The thought behind this method is that it will help preserve the life that came on your live rock. The benefits, if any, are not well known at this time however."

According to this: [IMG]http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/tank_cycling.php">http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/tank_cycling.php</a>, also lights on, but frequent water changes during cycling.

I also found this excellent step by step article on setting up a nano reef:
[IMG]http://www.aquabuys.com/page/aqb/CTGY/z2b">http://www.aquabuys.com/page/aqb/CTGY/z2b</a>
but it's silent on lights and water changes.

 

[showtime305]

JJW;30327 wrote: Actually, lights on or lights off, water change or no water change during cycling, I am getting conflicting information:
http://www.nano-reef.com/articles/?article=8">http://www.nano-reef.com/articles/?article=8</a>, according to this: "
So what should you do during the cycle? Keep your lights running on their regular 10-12 hour schedule. Do not cycle your tank with the lights off, unless you want the life on the live rock to die off. Do not perform any partial water changes during the the process, as doing so will stall the cycle from completing. Some people have experimented with doing very small water changes during the cycle to keep the ammonia levels from getting extremely high. The thought behind this method is that it will help preserve the life that came on your live rock. The benefits, if any, are not well known at this time however."

According to this: [IMG]http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/tank_cycling.php">http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/tank_cycling.php</a>, also lights on, but frequent water changes during cycling.

I also found this excellent step by step article on setting up a nano reef:
[IMG]http://www.aquabuys.com/page/aqb/CTGY/z2b">http://www.aquabuys.com/page/aqb/CTGY/z2b</a>
but it's silent on lights and water changes.[/QUOTE]

<span style="color: black;">There are two sides to almost everything done in this hobby. Yes, leaving the lights on will help preserve what is still alive and well on the rock. They are referring to things like sponges, seas squirts, and coralline algae. Most of the life on your live rock dies before it even arrives in your tank unless you are getting in back in the water and under light on the same day. If you are using cured live rock that was picked up from a LFS, then cycling with the lights on to preserve the life on the rock may not be a bad idea. If you are using uncured rock that has been boxed and shipped, you have a slim chance that anything has survived and this rock will most likely cause major algae problems if light are used while being cycled.</span>

 

[xyzpdq0121]

For what it is worth, I say lights on and no water changes. worked well for me in all my past cycles.