Cycling with actinics only?

[gpodio]

Hi all, my new tank is ready to be stocked only I have another week or two wait on the MH ballast and bulb. I have the 03 actinics in place and was wondering if I could start cycling without the MH? Will caraline algae die on me with actinic as the only source of light? I do have some 6700K CF bulbs I could mix with the actinic but nothinig higher in kelvin. Not planning on wasting any $ on 10000K CFs for just two weeks though so if it's not a good idea I'll just wait until the MH arrives.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[liquid]

I think you'll be fine starting w/ the actinics until your halides arrive...

Shane

 

[ufans]

The actinics are fine to cycle with live rock/live sand and the coraline algae will do fine, assuming you have a decent number of watts. Actually coraline algae loves actinics...even better than white light. The only tid bit is that you should expect some die-off or bleaching when upgrade to the MH, but that shouldn't hurt much and it will come back fast.

 

[Kevin1000]

Coralline algae do better in low light than bright light - will grow faster w/o MH.

 

[gpodio]

Hey that's all good new to me! It's an Oceanic stretch hex 40 gallon and I have 2x55W PC actinics installed. Hopefully enough until the 250W MH arrives.

So I shouldn't even consider mixing some 6700K bulbs? Just use the actinics on their own until the MH arrives.

Thanks again!

 

[Kevin1000]

You give the impression that you think coralline algae grows fast - it does not. If you have a new tank the coralline algae on your rocks may take six months to spread.

 

[gpodio]

Oh I know, I'm in no hurry, just avoiding useless delays. Been planning this tank for months now!

I just don't want to hurt anything by stocking the tank with sand and rock before the MH arrives, if that were the case I'd rather wait. Otherwise I'd rather cut a couple weeks off the required time to mature.

Thanks for the help

 

[Kevin1000]

The only thing that will require MH will be some corals and you should not consider corals until your tank is mature - many months away.

 

[hillbilly]

Well said Kevin. I think most people try to add corals too soon and thats why a lot of them have all kinds of problems. These are the people who post on the boards "help me my tank's covered with hair algae and everythings dying"! Patience is key to a great reef.

 

[Reef Guy11]

You can cycle the whole 4 to 6 weeks in Antinic light, will not make a differents. I cycled my tank that way with little to none algea growth. Also my tank Cycled in one week. So I add all my fish from my other two tanks. Then waited a month for my DKH and Calcium to stable and then added about 10 new corals from a friend that is moving. I will now let the tank mature for 6 more month to a yr before I start SPS corals. So the Moral to this story, is don't worry about the Antinic they won't hurt.

 

[gpodio]

Thanks guys! Good to know I can finally get everything wet

I'm sure I'll have many more questions as thing progress... :wink:

Regards