To Light or Not To Light?

[Twosixpax]

I started my XXL750 build on 5/20 and added the first fish (pair of clowns - original huh?) on 6/30. I was taking the advice from a BRS video and kept the lights off entirely during cycling, and now only turn them on for an hour around feeding. Any advice on whether it's time to turn the lights on (I do have a Kessil H380 running a night cycle over the sump). While BRS advised no tank light for 4 months, a couple of threads here suggest a full light cycle from the off. Thanks.

 

[Ippyroy]

You don't need any lights till you are putting in corals. With that said turning on lights will not hurt anything, but they will encourage algae to grow. If you have or are about to get to get a CUC, then definitely turn the lights on.

 

[Bryn]

The biggest thing I have learnt about Reefing, comes from the trucking industry, Hurry-Up-And-Wait. What ever you decide, you need to have patience, and Hurry-Up-And-Wait. Another thing I use in Reefing comes from the motorcycle race track, and that slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.

I like the idea of no lights, almost like a revealing, also trying to keep problems to a minimum at the beginning. Again lets go back to the track, and everyone is on the starting line, for the first few laps it is excitement, changing leads, and in and out riding, until finally everyone settles down and it becomes predictable, a bit like reefing at the beginning, where a lot of things are coming at you quickly. BRS tries to head off some of the onslaught of problems in the beginning, not to say everyone has the same problems, yours might not be as bad.

Enjoy the ride, just remember whichever path you take, Hurry-Up-And-Wait, don't change things too rapidly, and try and change one thing at a time.

Best of luck.

 

[Twosixpax]

Thanks guys - really appreciate it. Even the short bursts of feeding light have led to a small amount of diatoms on the sand. I was thinking of adding a couple of fighting conch and Trochus, but they'll go into QT first so I guess I've got a while before the lights are needed.

@Bryn I hear you about the racing analogy (Panigale R and 749R rider and live a few miles from COTA