lights on?

[reefin fool]

does anybody have a good argument one way or the other on whether the lights should be kept on a day/night cycle for a ball of chaeto or if on all the time would be best.

[Jadinop]

All plants require a day/night cycle for natural respiration. IMO, a reverse daylight cycle is the best way to run lighting for a fuge.

[jenglish]

Algae isn't technically a plant. My chaeto has been lit continuously for months now. IDK if it grows any faster than if I had it on a reverse cycle for months. I'm out of timers. 24 hour lighting is used with caulerpa to keep it from going sexual but chaeto won't do that.

[fihsboy]

I have 24 hour lighting on my mangroves, and they are growing like weeds in my tank. all 56 of them.

[Loverotties]

Originally Posted by Jadinop

All plants require a day/night cycle for natural respiration. IMO, a reverse daylight cycle is the best way to run lighting for a fuge.

I agree!

[Salty O'Shen]

i have a ball of chaeto in my fuge also...i was told by my LFS to leave the lights on 24 hrs...they are always giving me solid advice so I follow it...i'm interested in hearing more opinions on this thread tho...

[fihsboy]

well.....in nature......living things need rest. Its a fact of life. The only mammal I know of that doesnt sleep is a dolphin. There breathing is Involuntary, meaning they have to think about breathing to breath. Point being....without rest, nothing will reach its full potential. Just because I have 24 hour lighting doesnt make it right.....I just dont feel like buying a timer.

[Jadinop]

Without light, plants and algae go through a respiration cycle that release CO2 and burns up some of the energy(food) stored during photosynthesis. To me, this is a natural part of the lifecycle and I can't see how removing it can be beneficial for the longterm health of the plant or algae.

Last I checked, Green Algaes were still considered part of the Plant Kingdom but there is some debate on the subject. Regardless of their classification, the process of photosynthesis is the same.

[jenglish]

I don't know that there is any specific benefit to lighting chaeto 24/7, it certainly tolerates it and I throw half mine away every couple of weeks, but it is very small. I can see how burning up some of their energy at night could help them pull nutrients. I don't know that their respiration cycle is the same since it is not vascular. Algae is generally considered to be in Kingdom Protista, though i know at one point there was some debate over how many kingdoms there were based on genetics. It's been a long time since I took a biology class though

[reefin fool]

well thanks for the replies i think i will just try a long day short night cycle and see what happens.

[Elegance Coral]

Originally Posted by fihsboy

well.....in nature......living things need rest. Its a fact of life. The only mammal I know of that doesnt sleep is a dolphin. There breathing is Involuntary, meaning they have to think about breathing to breath. Point being....without rest, nothing will reach its full potential. Just because I have 24 hour lighting doesnt make it right.....I just dont feel like buying a timer.

Even dolphins sleep. They just do it one side of the brain at a time. They're never truly unconscious like we are, but their brains still need that down time just like ours.

[fihsboy]

Very interesting.

[jenglish]

Originally Posted by Elegance Coral

Even dolphins sleep. They just do it one side of the brain at a time. They're never truly unconscious like we are, but their brains still need that down time just like ours.

Somebody get me a dolphin and a bottle of scotch.... I want to run an experiment.

[zero186]

cellular respiration is what releases the Oxygen into the system i dont see how by running lights 24/7 will harm them without light they cant produce food/oxygen. and for a plant needing rest just not so sure about that.

[Jadinop]

Photosynthesis has both a light and dark phase.

I run 16 hours of day and 8 hours of night on my fuge. The 24/7 lighting just seems unnatural to me.