I assume a balanced tank to begin with.I also am assuming the right quantity/quality of light (lumens) for your tank.
I was specifically talking about length of light provided.These back and forth ramblings will hopefully make it clear to anyone reading them.
Cheers, Mark Hess, Clay A wrote:
Hmmmm, so, here is another one I could not resist. Soooo,if we use the supposition that, less light does slow plant growth....one would expect that more light speeds plant growth. If you look at algae as a plant, then, light would have some impact on the growth rate of algae in theory. From my own tanks I have seen this. Yes, plants grow slower in a low light tank......and if that tank is prone to algae, the algae will grow slower too....but, it still grows. The problem comes about when the slow growing algae still outgrows the slow growing plants. Similarly, algae will grow faster in a higher light tank, as will yourdesired plants. So, which grows faster?The point being, I believe Mark is correct in stating that day length does not matter so long as your tank is in balance to begin with (ie, the desired plants are outgrowing the algae). If your tank is out of balance to start and the algae is outgrowing the plants, then, more light will only make this effect worse in theory, and in my own playing around I have seen this too. Where is Eric in all of this.....he has loads of plant experience too......more data please. Clay -----Original Message-----From: Mark Pearlscott [mailto:mark@pearlscott.com] Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2005 11:23 AMTo: Greater Seattle Aquarium Society member chat Subject: Re: [GSAS-Member] Algae controlI'm not sure that day length matters too much. I have experimented in the past with short (8 hours) and long cycles (up to 16-18 hours)... andI didn't notice any discernible difference in plant or algae growth thatI could attribute to a change in the light duration. Now when I say discernible difference, I mean that I didn't see algae grow more/plants grow less, or vice versa. Less light does equal less growth total.MTC. Mark P. A JACOBSON wrote:Just a thought. How long do you leave your bulbs on each day? I've been told that algae likes longer "days", so my tanks are on a strict11 hour timer.----- Original Message ----- From: John Ruhland<mailto:john@drruhland.com> To: Greater Seattle Aquarium Society memberchat<mailto:gsas-member@thekrib.com>(aboutSent: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 11:48 PM Subject: Re: [GSAS-Member] Algae control Paul, Thank you for your response. It is a 72 gallon with many plants, 8 baby daffodil Brichardi (from Susan), and one Leporinus fasciatus, about 10 inches long. pH 7.4 KH 80 GH 80Nitrite, Nitrate, and ammonia have always been very low, usually not even measurable.I have added small amounts of epsom salt in the past, and still add a small amount of rock salt, about 1 tbsp with every water changevery15-20 gallons).I have also added SSKI (Iodine) and Oregon Grape Root extract (a powerful natural antibiotic I make), but this was some time, and numerous water changes, ago.I added a multi vitamin (Kent Zoe), and buffered Vitamin C, and asomesmall amount of essential fatty acids (Kent Zoecon), but that wasintime ago as well.After a water change 2 times ago, all the small snails mysteriously died. That might hold the key to the problem. I did not use any new sponges, soaps, or any cleaning materials. I've stopped using a small amount of Aquasafe that I had used in the past to remove the chlorine. I do not recall if I used Aquasafe at that water change twotimes ago, although I think I did use it. Months ago I used Ichstopthat tank, the only other medicine I have used up until now. Lighting began as twin 48" bulbs. Then I turned them off for over one day. Then I switched to a new light containing 4 65 watt twin tubes.(My reading suggested changing lighting, either decreasing or increasing, could eliminate algae. It would probably require turning the lights off,or even covering the tank, for three days to make a difference.) Nonedownof the light changes helped. Let me know if any other info would be useful to know. Regards, John On Mar 16, 2005, at 10:13 PM, Paul M Wallace wrote: > John: > > It has been several years since I had green water(result of a pH> product) and it seems that GW is aggravated by ammonia. With that > said you probably have an imbalance of nutrients. The good news isyou> that when balance is restored, the GW will go away. > > So I am curious about your water parameters. How much light, arethan> adding carbon or nutrients? > > -Paul > > In the past few weeks, I've had an algae problem as well. Rather> coating any surfaces, it simply turns my water green. While it is ainches> pretty color, I am unable to see anything more than about 4-5> from the glass. I've added two filters to the original filter. The> pleated paper filter that came with the Magnum canister filter, andout> that I was told would turn water crystal clear, has not filteredmagnum> anything, so it must be only a few microns in size. Besides theBio-wheel.> filter, I have a Magnum HOT, and a Marineland Emperor with> At first I changed the water every day or two and added a bit of > salt, thinking that would slow the growth of algae, but since that> did not show much improvement, I decided to wait it out. Any > recommendations would be helpful. Anita recommended getting tiny > organisms that would eat the algae.sale> > Fortunately, the fish seem to be doing alright. > Thank you, > John > > > > It is the tank where I put most of the plants I got at the plant> as well. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > GSAS-Member mailing list > GSAS-Member@thekrib.com<mailto:GSAS-Member@thekrib.com> >http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member<http://lists.thekr ib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member>> > Dr. John F. Ruhland The Natural Health Medical Clinic 4002 - 25th Avenue S, Seattle, WA 98108 206-723-4891 www.drruhland.com<http://www.drruhland.com/> _______________________________________________ GSAS-Member mailing list GSAS-Member@thekrib.com<mailto:GSAS-Member@thekrib.com>http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member<http://lists.thekr ib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member>_______________________________________________ GSAS-Member mailing list GSAS-Member@thekrib.com http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member_______________________________________________ GSAS-Member mailing list GSAS-Member@thekrib.com http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member _______________________________________________ GSAS-Member mailing list GSAS-Member@thekrib.com http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member
_______________________________________________ GSAS-Member mailing list GSAS-Member@thekrib.com http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member