# Photoperiod



## Jules (May 20, 2012)

6 hrs - AHS 96PC, 50 gal tank.


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## nature (Mar 23, 2011)

mine only 5 hours at night because the tank already near a window


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## specks (Dec 25, 2010)

nature said:


> mine only 5 hours at night because the tank already near a window


You keep the lights on at night? I'd avoid that because you want to imitate the natural day-night cycle. 


For those who are over 8 hours please post your photoperiod duration. Thanks.


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## ineedfire (Jun 17, 2012)

I was planning on running 9-5 in my 10g low tech.. Too long?


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## Spanosilvio (Mar 20, 2012)

I run my from 9:30 am. To 11:00 pm. And my plants are looking good, the tank run only on sponge filters 3 of them for 150 gallon. 

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## nature (Mar 23, 2011)

in that case i just use the light from the window


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## specks (Dec 25, 2010)

Bumped mine to 8 hours a day.


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## THE V (Nov 17, 2011)

12 hours a day normal. I may bump it up to 14 and increase the fert's slightly. As the plants get bigger I'm getting more shading. Might need to increase the light duration to compensate.


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## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

Increasing the light duration will not do anything.plants photosynthesize for no more than 10 hours a day, after that your just growing algae. 


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## dannylill1981 (Apr 11, 2012)

11am-10pm, 11 hours, fits around when im in the house, tank is in a dark room gets some natural light but not sunlight.


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## CrazyCatPeekin (Aug 15, 2011)

Some of my tanks run 7am to 9:30pm with a 2.5 hour break. The others run 9-9.

I am actually converting everything to a 12 hour cycle with no break though...9am to 9pm. I didn't find that the break in the afternoon gave me any noticeable benefit in regards to algae so I am switching everything over to the same 12 hour cycle.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Doesn't matter when your plants have their photoperiod as long as they receive light for an appropriate length of time. Most people keep their tanks lit during a time period when they're at home and can enjoy their hard work.



specks said:


> You keep the lights on at night? I'd avoid that because you want to imitate the natural day-night cycle.
> 
> For those who are over 8 hours please post your photoperiod duration. Thanks.


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## Soujirou (Jun 16, 2008)

*Oh, we're supposed to post if our photoperiod is over 8 hours*

My photoperiod is 10 hours. I'm following the Walstad method and it recommends a 10-14 hour photoperiod. I want to minimize growth so I'm starting at the bottom. I would increase the photoperiod if the plants become unhealthy or algae starts growing.


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## annewaldron (Jun 13, 2012)

My photoperiod is 6, but I have a T5HO light with a DIY screen filter. Trying to be conservative because my lights are too powerful for my setup (wish I'd known this when I started!)


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## specks (Dec 25, 2010)

Are there any benefits in having a photoperiod of over 8 hours compared to only 8 hours?


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## FriendsNotFood (Sep 21, 2010)

I run 10 hours on all my tanks. I remember reducing the lighting to 6 hours while going on vacation and when I came back my dwarf lilly started putting out surface leaves. It had never done that before so I assume 6 hours a day made it think there was too little light.


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## specks (Dec 25, 2010)

Any benefits of running 10 hours over 8?


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## Django (Jun 13, 2012)

My photoperiod is 10 hours, 8 am to 6 pm. I'm getting a lot of growth, which I see as good.

Why should I reduce the photoperiod?


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## ecotanker (Jul 11, 2009)

I run my at 12 hours, 4 hour on starting at 8am, 4 hours off then 4 hour on. I am following the Walstad method of course.


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

I'm running my tanks a 6 hr photoperiod


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## Jules (May 20, 2012)

specks said:


> Are there any benefits in having a photoperiod of over 8 hours compared to only 8 hours?


If your plants have enough of _everything else_ they need to use a longer photoperiod effectively, then yes (if you consider more/faster growth a benefit).

In all other cases, no.


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## jcgd (Feb 18, 2004)

I watch my plants. When they all close up I figure they are done for the day and reduce my photoperiod to that duration. Usually between 7-10 hours depending on the plant. 10 hours is my default but I usually end up shortening it a bit for algae reasons.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

> plants photosynthesize for no more than 10 hours a day


Please identify the source of this info. I have seen some interesting info about longer photoperiods. 

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/el-natural/57498-photo-period-confusion-2.html

I have run tanks with a siesta, about 5-6 hours on, 4 hours off, then 5-6 hours on and the plants were fine, maybe less algae. I was doing that to keep the tanks cooler in the hot summers.


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## alohamonte (Jul 25, 2006)

20g tall, 24" t8 fixture i believe is 14wx2 running 13 hours on in the summer. 10 in the winter.


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