light timer use?

Linda S

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Sep 6, 2009
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Killeen, TX
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Linda Sholly
Does setting your light timer for hours in the morning and then having them off and then having them back on in the evening really discourage/interupt algae growth? I've read this but was wondering if it is myth or truth.
thanks
linda
 
It's true. Algae is a lower plant form and cannot keep up with the shifting light shcedule like the higher plants are able to.

Best wishes,
Wes
 
idk... i've always been told that peak photosynthesis/o2 production doesn't happen in higher order/thicker leafed plants until 3-4 hours after lights on and that's why it's best to have at least a 6 hour photoperiod (terrestrial or aquatic), while algae can take what it can get almost instantly in comparison. algae, as well does better when one or more ferts are missing from the regime/tank, taking advantage of what's left pretty efficiently.

needless to say, i am skeptical.

EDIT: you know, sometimes i wonder if this is a misinterpretation of the fact that plants actually need a rest period (darkness), whereas algae will be prolific on a 24 hour photoperiod.
 
My lights are on ~2 hours in the morning, then from ~2pm to ~8pm, to kind of mirror when I'm there to look at the tanks. One tank has almost zero algae, another has some green spot and a bit of brown, but nearly all in back and hard to notice. A third has noticible greenspot and brown, but it's still a newly set up nano and has only plants and no heater (yet). Each tank is a different size (2.5, 6 and 10G) and each has a different lighting set up. So in thinking about your question, I suspect that timing is only one factor in whether or not algae growth is encouraged or discouraged. If everything else were to be equal, an experiment using different times on various identical tanks might have interesting results.
 
Plants need a rest period. Found a great article months ago, but I can't find it now.

Wes told me he does a few hrs on then back on, but I worry about freaking my fish. They already panic when lights turn on in the morning if I didn't set it right and the sun is not already up. The tank is in the garage with a ton of light, so I let the sun wake them, then the lights go on.
 
I like to to do a 4on-4off-4on schedule. I heard a while back that it's good for algae control but I also do it to prevent the tank from heating up too much.
 
I like to to do a 4on-4off-4on schedule. I heard a while back that it's good for algae control but I also do it to prevent the tank from heating up too much.

I have mine one o 4 hrs on 4 hrs off 4 hrs on then off for the night shcedule. I also use a modified EI dosing method along with a 1.5%solution of Glutaraldehyde at 10ml every other day.

So, I cannot say for certain wheter it's the timer or the rapid plant growth I experience that actually controlls the algae.

But, I do this lighting shcedule on a tank with plastic plants and experience no algae there. I have plastic plants in there because the light is too dim to allow regular plant growth. That tank I have set up for a fry grow out tank.

I hope this sheds some light on things ... no pun intended :thumbsup:

And dundadundun could very well be right given the fact that I also dose ferts.

Best wishes,
Wes
 
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