lights over fuge

[NjOyRiD]

whats better for my cheatos
lights 24h a day or less?

[salvini55]

I run mine 24h. I found that it didnt grow as well on an 8h reverse photo peirod and Ph swung like a mother ***

[Bob P]

24 hours for sure
Chaeto and any other plant that
absorbs co2 and releases oxygen during the daylight,
does the reverse in the dark. At a slighter fast rate also.

[dan2x38]

Very intersting I have mine on reverse photo period from display. A 24hr. period would reduce CO2 levels even more therefore, reducing CO2 for algae growth too. Going to remove timer now.

[NjOyRiD]

hehe i just removed my timer too

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[Bob P]

Ya, a 6500k cfl bulb 26 watts works fine
My fuge is packed.

[dan2x38]

Well this thread got me thinking and researching more. Already had some background on macro algae and understand the whole usage of it and a sump. My aquaria roots - no pun intended - are freshwater planted and hi-tech at that.

I was quick to pull my timer and go 24/7 for light especially since I was on the verge of a diatom bloom. Having the lights on 24/7 would eat up all the excess nutrients and CO2 created by fish therefore starving nuisance algae. OR will it?

Off to my search engine and wow another one of those topics spilt 50/50 with tons of opinions. With a plant background I am more inclined now to believe there should be a dark period. Yes the macro algae is a simple plant but the nutrients it uptakes will be used for plant growth during the dark (rest) period as in other plants. It also will be exported when we pull the extra out of the fuge. This makes more sense to me than 24/7.

BUT wait there is another issue. Macro algae like Caulerpa when they go sexual basically dissolve and release the nutrients it uptakes plus other stuff like some heavy metals not to mention the large amount of decaying plant matter. This event can literally crash a tank - so I've read. This is where the 24/7 photo period comes in it is suppose to prevent such algae from going sexual and crashing a tank.

Cheatomorpha (Cheato) does not go sexual creating this potential disaster. I am using this algae so since my diatom issue is under control and I am using Cheato the timer is going back on. BUT sort of like my freshwater plant days using a different strategy. I will overlap the display lighting for one hour but employ the reverse daylight period (RDP). So my RDP will stay on one hour in the AM over the display and come on one hour before display lights go out. So my display is only 8hrs. now that means my fuge light is on 18 hrs so there is a 6 hr. rest for plant growth - in theory.

It makes sense IMHO that the algae needs a dark period to grow. There were many articles and threads some for and some against. To me if I want the plant to use nutrients it has to grow.

I guess this just muddies the water even more on the topic? 

[Bob P]

Complicates, if not muddied lol.
All i know is what i've learned.
My fuge is lighted 24/7
Chaeto, caulurpa fuge mix
grows so much it's like cutting the
grass in there weekly. No crashes, no
complications, so sometimes keeping
things simple works.

[salvini55]

Chaeto and caulurpa mix in my fuge as well so I guess im kinda biased. However my ph swings WAY less with a 24/7 light fuge...  like .30 less 

[dan2x38]

I have Cheato and Red Palm Macroalgae http://www.lareefs.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=452 in my fuge. If I had caulurpa I would go with the 24/7 scenario. After further reading I think a rest period will work. But things seemed pretty spilt down the middle for 24/7 or RDP.

[Bob P]

I guess if it aint broke, don't fix it.