# Do aquarium plants grow at night?



## markalot (Apr 8, 2007)

I swear I've seen this question asked before but search failed me.

My lights turn off at 8pm and I just got back up here. I'm testing some DIY co2 on my smaller tanks and I wanted to see how it was going so I turned the lights back on.

I swear some of my plants have put on 1/4 inch in the last 1 1/2 hours, all stem plants. So is this a valid observation? Do aquarium plants put on a spurt of growth after the lights go out? Could it be a response to ambient room light? Or is it my imagination?



Mark


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

plants make sugar during the day and make protein at night... So yeah, they grow at night I guess.


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## frozenbarb (Dec 16, 2006)

Yea just like us We grow when we go to sleep and exercise when we are awake


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## stagius (Nov 26, 2007)

yup, plant do grow at night.
During light on, plant do photosynthesis to produce sugar and store them in cell.
At night, sugar is use as an energy source, just like human, for cell to accomplish such thing like cell respiration, cell mitosis. Basically, plant grwo

Have you wonder what would happen if letting light on 24/7 ? except algae ..


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

they make food during the day only, but they are perfectly capable of consuming it all day round. cell division probably is happening 24/7 in good conditions.


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

stagius said:


> Have you wonder what would happen if letting light on 24/7 ? except algae ..


plants need a rest period. they will only photosynthesize for a certain amount of hours, if the light is still on your just burning you bulb. the reason algae happens is because algae does not need a rest period, making it grow faster in such a tank. this would also stress your fish and inverts. 
dont experiment. these are unnatural conditions, and plants and animals have already evolved perfectly to other conditions (which actually exist on earth).


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## JSCOOK (Jan 7, 2008)

Yup ... often I will have a leaf on my big Red Tiger Lotus that is about part way up to the surface and not fully opened when the lights go out at 10pm ... by 7am in the morning the same leaf will be flat on the surface of the water and fully opened ...

So Yes plants do, or at least some do, grow at night.


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