# does a "siesta" period in lighting help with algae control?



## nicks7.1985 (Aug 11, 2010)

yes..iv heard all the talk about nutirent imbalance/toomuch light/too many nutirent/algae is natural etc... iv also seen the sticky


im curious ..iv seen posts of ppl saying they will run lights ofr like 4-5 hrs with a 2 hr break then another 4-5 hours
.....does this really help?? ...i am not swamped in algae, just have a some thread in my new tank...this question is more out of curiosity than an "HELP ME" question.


----------



## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

It hasn't been demonstrated, as far as I know, that a siesta period has any effect on algae, good or bad. It has been demonstrated that the plants do fine with such a lighting schedule, not that they do a lot better, they just do their usual growing. What does help with algae is a shorter lighting period, down to 6 hours, and, of course, less light intensity.


----------



## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

It doesnt effect plant growth because growth is based off of the hours of uninterrupted darkness, not the hours of uninterrupted light. This is what cues plants to flower and of the time of the season. By doing this to your tank, you are tricking your plants into thinking that theyre getting two hours of shade, and not a night time rest. I havent heard of it being effective for algae but it does prolong the period of time that your lights are on while youre home.


----------



## nicks7.1985 (Aug 11, 2010)

thanks hoppy. i know you know a lot about lighting.... iv cut my light down to 2x54w th5ho on my 55 gallon..and im about to reduce the photoperiod to 6hrs. ..will 6 hrs be enough for my plants? ....i hav a red cabomba thats growing really nicely and i am very pleased with it. even if it grows slower thats ok

..but will 6 hrs at 2wpg be enough to keep it healthy|?(tank is 21inches high)lights are about 5 inches above the water


----------



## nicks7.1985 (Aug 11, 2010)

chad320 said:


> you are tricking your plants into thinking that theyre getting two hours of shade, and not a night time rest.
> .


thanks...that makes a lot of sense if the rest of ur post about the uninterrupted darkness is correct..easy to understand


----------



## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

Where it helps me is it makes it easier to maintain consistent co2 levels in my tank. When I run 8 hours straight the co2 levels go down after about 5 hours and force me to run it at a much higher bubble rate. 

I also use the "siesta" as a way to see my tanks lit more. It is lit in the morning and then evening when I am home.


----------



## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I have never experimented with lighting duration, but I have read about a lot of people who have used 6 hour photoperiods successfully. I can't recall any shorter ones though. The 2 T5HO lights 5 inches above the water, presumably about 23 inches from the substrate should be giving you high light, but not overly high.


----------



## nicks7.1985 (Aug 11, 2010)

thanks again hoppy


----------



## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

D Walstad promotes the siesta as a way of increasing available CO2 for the plants in 'el natural' tanks by allowing fish respiration to rebuild in the water column. She also has written in several forum posts she feels the interruption of photo period does affect algae in a negative way. 

I've been trying it on two tanks for about three months and can say I see no problems with either plants or fish behavior but have no opinion yet on decreasing algae growth.


----------



## nicks7.1985 (Aug 11, 2010)

thanks wkndracer.....all the info def helps. so far it seems like there is a minimal effect on algae


----------



## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

I use 6 hours of t5ho light on my 37 and things are great.


----------



## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

over_stocked said:


> Where it helps me is it makes it easier to maintain consistent co2 levels in my tank. When I run 8 hours straight the co2 levels go down after about 5 hours and force me to run it at a much higher bubble rate.
> 
> I also use the "siesta" as a way to see my tanks lit more. It is lit in the morning and then evening when I am home.


That's interesting about your CO2 but makes sense when you think about it. It seems I read something about Amano using a noon burst on his tanks. He uses low light at the beginning and end of the lighting period and higher light somewhere in the middle after CO2 levels have reached their peak. He also mentions preferring lower light levels for better viewing of the tank. Of course, noonday bursts are nothing new but sometimes it's interesting just to revisit an idea.



bsmith said:


> I use 6 hours of t5ho light on my 37 and things are great.


How much light are you using and do you have any lights on outside of those 6 hours?

My 2x54 fixture from Catalina with the separate switches for each bulb is supposed to arrive Thursday. I'm planning on trying a noon burst schedule, something like 3 hours of one bulb at the beginning and end of the period with a 4 hours of both bulbs in the middle. The reason being less algae "incidents", lower CO2 demand, and mostly to slow down some of the growth and have a more maintainable scape.


----------

