Lighting Period, Keep Or Change?

[nry]

Hi all,

Currently my tank is running a 7-hour lighting period. Historically (before higher wpg, CO2 and EI) this was the only way I could control algae. I upped the lighting from 1wpg to 2.5wpg about 2 months ago. EI started this week. I am curious if the EI dosing is better off with a longer lighting period and if the higher growth rate of the plants with EI (and longer lighting times) will in itself combat algae? I'm debating shifting to 9-10 hours but am unsure if this is best done gradually (which I tried with 1wpg but still came back to 7-hours) or do I just stick it up straight away?

Thoughts welcome

nry

 

[Underwurlde]

I'd do it gradually. Plants are slow to react to changes, algae quick: Don't forget, plants buffer, algae don't.

 

[nry]

Fair enough, the staghorn algae and some hair-type-stuff on the gravel has all but gone, there is a small amount of green-hair algae on some of the cabomba but with my CO2 now stable this is not spreading to new growth any more which is good. I'll give it a week or two and see how things are.

 

[aaronc]

That sounds enouraging nry. Hope I have the same success now that I have gone EI

Aaron

 

[George Farmer]

If you have multiple tubes then a small midday burst is ideal i.e. 3 hours half light, 2 hours full light, 3 hours half light.

The gradually increase the burst from 2 hours to however many hours you wish, with a max total photoperiod of 10 hours.

Keep CO2 at 30ppm, EI and 50% water changes and algae shouldn't be an issue, providing you're planted heavily enough.

 

[nry]

I have a single Interpet PC T5 (Daylight Plus) so I can't have a burst. I would have preferred two normal T5's but the cost was too high at present.

In respect to algae, it started once I moved to 2.5wpg from 1wpg, and having unstable CO2 for ~1 week whilst I was trying a different diffuser didn't help either. I now have 2 bottles of mix with a ceramic diffuser, swapping alternate bottles is much better.