Need lighting with just fish?

[Hayden1209]

Hey guys absolute noob here but thinking of getting a tank and watched a brs video saying get fish and don’t turn on lights for 4 months because algae and other things thrive off the lights.or did I miss understand it?just going to try to run into the least amount of issues
Thanks for any replys

 

[Waters]

I personally don't buy into leaving the lights off to avoid algae issues....they will happen eventually. That said, yes, you can leave them off. As long as the fish aren't sitting in total darkness for 4 months, they will be fine. Ambient room lighting is enough for them.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

there are a million unofficial nonsense rules like that, I don't know where that stuff comes from. Why 4 months, why not 3 months, or 5 months? If its a fish only tank, then you don't even need a light that's strong enough to grow algae, you can use a 10w lightbulb if you want. Its up to you, if you enjoy seeing your fish, turn the lights on, if you prefer a darker looking tank, then turn the lights off.

 

[Hayden1209]

I end up wanting corals but want to take it slowly been really cautious thanks for your response

 

[homer1475]

Keep the lights off and avoid algae issues for four months. Turn the lights on after 4 months and have algae.

So either turn the lights on and deal with the eventual algae outbreak now, or wait 4 months and deal with it later.

Either way your going to have to deal with algae eventually.

 

[Lukeluke]

Interesting. BRS and Mr. Saltwater Aquarium give the same advice. They gave me the impression that giving the tank some time to stabilize before turning on the lights would reduce the severity of the algae problem when they are finally turned on.

Maybe it is more about not demoralizing new reefers with a big outbreak just a week into having the tank up? Give them ~4 months of just dealing with the livestock without the complexity of an ugly mess to clean up on top of just keeping the new fish alive.

 

[Hayden1209]

Interesting. BRS and Mr. Saltwater Aquarium give the same advice. They gave me the impression that giving the tank some time to stabilize before turning on the lights would reduce the severity of the algae problem when they are finally turned on.

Maybe it is more about not demoralizing new reefers with a big outbreak just a week into having the tank up? Give them ~4 months of just dealing with the livestock without the complexity of an ugly mess to clean up on top of just keeping the new fish alive.

I honestly think your right man if you have one problem at a time then 4-5 you can handle one at a time and make it easier idk just thinking because what I’m hearing is that you run into these problems regardless

 

[Lukeluke]

I honestly think your right man if you have one problem at a time then 4-5 you can handle one at a time and make it easier idk just thinking because what I’m hearing is that you run into these problems regardless

I will say don't do what I did and get an algae eating machine like an urchin before turning on your lights and getting some algae in there. ;Woot She's doing fine on seaweed strips so far, but it was bad planning on my part.

 

[Hayden1209]

Gonna get clowns and then a blonde naso

 

[rhostam]

there are a million unofficial nonsense rules like that, I don't know where that stuff comes from. Why 4 months, why not 3 months, or 5 months? If its a fish only tank, then you don't even need a light that's strong enough to grow algae, you can use a 10w lightbulb if you want. Its up to you, if you enjoy seeing your fish, turn the lights on, if you prefer a darker looking tank, then turn the lights off.

They aren’t rules. They are guidelines they thought would help people avoid the big bad algae ugly phase.

Anecdotally, I followed the the 5 min BRS guides almost to the T when I jumped into the hobby and before I found R2R and have to say that the guidelines have been helpful.

To be clear, even BRS has questioned whether or not some of these practices are actually necessary. Insta-tanking, for instance… doable? Yes! Absolutely, there are business built off of installing an entire system in a few days fully ready to go and populated with fish and corals for customers that have the money and don’t want to wait.

Bare bottom vs sand.

Live rock v dry rock.

etc.

They provide tons of useful insights and guidelines for newbies. I think they do a pretty good job of disclaiming their recommendations.

 

[rhostam]

Hey guys absolute noob here but thinking of getting a tank and watched a brs video saying get fish and don’t turn on lights for 4 months because algae and other things thrive off the lights.or did I miss understand it?just going to try to run into the least amount of issues
Thanks for any replys

I followed their guides almost to a T. Their recommendations panned out for me (also a noob).

Some of their recommendations they’ve come to rethink and they post updates when they do. But the guide was certainly helpful in preparing me for the hobby. You can decide later what actually worked for you if you do a second, third, etc tank.