new 20 gal nano reef

[jlorusso24]

i have plenty of questions if anyone wants to help me..
im startinga reef tank and for starters i want to know do u keep the lights on or off while cycleing.. i have no live rock in it yet.. i took some live sand out of my other saltwater tank to speed up process..
1. lights on or off during cylce
2. when should i put in live rock and then do i use lights?

this is for starters i may have more but i wanna see what i can get from this im still new on this sight.. thanks!

 

[mdb_talon]

Personally with saltwater I like to cycle with all my sand and live rock in it. If you put in live rock after it is cycled then it is basically going to cycle again with the rock (unless it is either completely cured LR or completey dead "dry rock"). If it is truly already cured and you just taking directly from LFS or other source then die off will be minimal. The vast majority of "live rock" though is going to cause your parameters to spike as organisms on the rock are dead or dying when you get it.

With my live rock and tank in cycling mode I use lights for 3 or 4 hours a day and leave them on longer a bit each week hoping to get corraline algae growth.

 

[jlorusso24]

thanks im gonna go out tomorrow and get some nice live rock.. im gonna use live sand from my already established tank.. then ill start with min light .
do i need a UV sterilizer for this tank?

 

[mdb_talon]

I dont use UV on either of my saltwater tanks. Never have though so maybe I just dont know what I am missing. I just dont see a need for it though and any time you feeding reef it gonna have to be shut off and I just dont see it worth the hassle. If they could make UV that only killed the stuff I did not want then maybe I would go that route !