Leaving off hte lights
 

I was just wondering what the effect of leaving off the lights for a day or
so was on the plants.

Some of the cures for algae are to leave the lights off, but what effect
does this have on the plants? at present my lights are on for about 13hrs a
day?

Stu

Leaving off hte lights
 

Leaving the lights off for a day won't really do anything to your algae...
and your plants wont hurt at all (again, only if this is just for a day)...
BUT, take this into consideration... If you leave your lights off, your
plants will tend to grow toward the greatest source of light.. (I.e. ambient
room light outside the tank)... So if you do leave your lights off for a
24hr period, your plants might have a new tilt to them ;)

However, I might say again that turning your lights off wont really help
your algae problem. (in the long term it would, but you dont want to leave
your lights off for the long term.

I would suggest altering your water chemistry first... or possibly
introducing a few snails, and maybe a couple more plecos or loaches.

"Stuart Mueller" wrote in message
. ..
I was just wondering what the effect of leaving off the lights for a day
or
so was on the plants.

Some of the cures for algae are to leave the lights off, but what effect
does this have on the plants? at present my lights are on for about 13hrs
a
day?

Stu

Leaving off hte lights
 

Some of the cures for algae are to leave the lights off, but what effect
does this have on the plants? at present my lights are on for about 13hrs
a
day?






Since plant growth takes place when the lights are OFF I find that
leaving them off a day (or two) once a month or so can stimulate
growth spurts. The plants collect and store energy during the day, and
use it during the night.

I 'discovered' this on my own while battling greenwater several years
ago. I went off on a buisness trip for several days, leaving the
lights off and the sides of the tank wrapped in opaque trash bags.
Upon my return the plants had grown considerably!
Of course you don't want them to use *all* their stored energy,
because it weakens them and you may begin to experience negative
results.


zeek

Leaving off hte lights
 

Xref: 127.0.0.1 rec.aquaria.freshwater.plants:68120

Plants will do fine!!!

Marcus
Http://www.Aquatic-Store.com

On Mon, 6 Jan 2003 13:09:30 -0000, "Stuart Mueller"
wrote:

I was just wondering what the effect of leaving off the lights for a day or
so was on the plants.

Some of the cures for algae are to leave the lights off, but what effect
does this have on the plants? at present my lights are on for about 13hrs a
day?

Stu

With the growing awareness of energy saving alternatives, they want to know if more energy when left permanently fluorescent. This is especially important information, the consumer is a lot of fluorescent lighting in a large space.