ReefNewbie Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 I have decided to go ahead and put my LS and water into my tank tomorrow. I am cursious as to what I need to have going when they are place into the tank. Do I need to have my HOB protein skimmer and powerheads on when they are the only things in the tank or do I wait until the rock comes in to turn it all on? Thanks in advanced for any advice!! Link to comment
reefermadness Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 I would run all of it, including the lights for about 8 hrs. a day at first. See how the nitrates do and watch the algae (set the lights and do water changes accordingly). Link to comment
Jean-yus Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Well, I dont think that water changes should be done in the cycling period, it just slows it down... But thats just my opinion. The only thing you really need to use is a powerhead or two (Depending on size of tank) and the heater. AND if you want less die off, I would use the light. Please informe us of youre setup (i.e. Tank size, Lights, What u want to keep, how much LS/LR) so we can elaborate further on your setup. Good luck, Happy Reefin Link to comment
darwin604 Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 just on a side note . . reefernewbie . . change that username before your stuck with it in a year d. Link to comment
MrKrispy Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 No, waaaaaait a minute. You don't need the lights. Period. You don't have corals, the coralline is in stress mode, you don't NEED lights, and you certainly DO NOT need light for 8 hours during the cycle. You don't want to watch the algae, you want to avoid it! However, new tanks are irrestible, so if you want lights, just try to run them a few hours a day. Think about it: what is the die off? Plant/coral material and bacterial types. The rock has been pulled out of the ocean, scrubbed, shipped DRY, and maybe thrown in water without acclimating. What the hell is light going to do at this point????? Wellllllllllll let's jumpstart some algae without having any nitrogen sponges to compete for it (IE corals). You don't have corals, you don't have fish. One powerhead, one tank, done. I don't know what the others are talking about, but it doesn't seem rational. Just my opinion. Link to comment
darwin604 Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 When I cycled my tank I turned my lights on to observe my LR and see what was growing on it when I was near my tank . . and turned them off when I left . . worked for me . . as long as they're not on for like 12 hours a day then you should be fine. Most of the bacteria that are part of the cycle are not photosynthetic so leaving the lights on for long periods of time will only encourage algae to start growing off of organic waste in the water. d. Link to comment
MrKrispy Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Thanks Darwin, big fan of your books. Nitrifying bacteria are NOT photosynthetic, none of them. As darwin said, lights on to look, nix them when done. Trust the rest of us that have delt with or are dealing with algae. Link to comment
Jean-yus Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Ahh... I forget, Whenever I buy LR it has TONS of Macro on it, Weither it be fully cured or uncured, so I try to keep the macro alive so I dont have to pay $5 for a clump later. But as Mr. Krispy said, you have nothing to keep alive. I miss things sometimes Link to comment
ReefNewbie Posted January 10, 2004 Author Share Posted January 10, 2004 Thanks for the help everyone. When do I run the HOB protein skimmer? When the rock comes in or do I wait till I put the fish in? Link to comment
reefermadness Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 You CAN keep things alive...If you have an algae outbreak, you didn't check your water enough and didn't change it enough. If you keep up with the spikes, you can save quite a few things. I thiink it's worth the trouble, but do what you like. This method is far more labor intensive and takes the commitment of changing water and testing religiously, but it DOES pay off in the end. The cycle WILL take longer (a few days longer than normal), but it WILL happen and you will have saved more life on the rock. Give it a try on your next tank setup Krispy, you will be amazed at what you can do if you have good rock to start. We seem to be at odds with this issue on this and other threads. Suffice to say that there are a number of methods that will work to "cure" rock. In the interest of peace, I will concede that your way (the more widely accepted way, I might add) is better because it is easier. I don't think that suggesting to a Newb a method that gets them in the habit of testing and changing water is a bad idea, though. Link to comment
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