[ObiQuiet]

I have been using the siesta lighting approach for years. It makes sense to help the plants out-compete the algae, as well as keeping the lights on during the two periods when people are around the tank (morning / evening)

It's also trivial to implement with any fixture and a simple timer.

However, we now have access to much finer control over both brightness and spectra. e.g. the AI Prime Freshwater

Lamps like that allow a "natural" increase in intensity over a day, and even a way to change the spectrum during the daily cycle.

Of course, one can implement a siesta with such a light.

Question: In our tanks, is the hard Light/Dark/Light true siesta the best way to help in the plants vs algae competition? Or, will a gradual ramp up then down do the same?

Secondary: One could do two peaks per day, or maybe do a selective siesta where some wavelengths are taken out for the "dark" period.

Thoughts? Science? Speculations?

 

[zahtar]

You mentioned science. That means certain steps the way I see it:
a) theory (assumption)
b) experiment
c) proof
d) law (or at least a conclusion)

What you suggest sounds reasonable. I am curious to what results you come to!

 

[ObiQuiet]

Right - I can do an experiment, though I'm not equipped to do a very carefully controlled one.

Those who know the biochemistry well may be able to predict the outcome...

 

[ronnie]

The siesta method is discussed a lot in the “el natural” forum.

Diana Walstad explains in her book (with data and research to back it up) that siesta periods are good for tanks due to the fluctuations of co2 and o2 in the tank.

A quick overview is basically the plants use up the available co2 by about midday. With the siesta, it allows it to rebuild and then there’s enough to use once again in the second half of the day.

This also inhibits algae growth by giving the plants what they need to grow and outcompete the algae. The general siesta period is about 3-4 hours.

Also this is geared towards tanks without co2 injection.

 

[Chris829]

I've thought the same thing as the original poster so I recently changed from a beamworks FSLED and 3 1/2 siesta to a Finnex planted 24/7 running its standard day simulation cycle. I have a 75 gallon aquarium and the new lighting change has been going for about 2 weeks. So far no algae problem my dwarf aquarium Lilly has a surface leaf. It has not reached the surface since I planted it 5 months ago. Also my ocelot sword has two larger and more vibrant leaves. I'll try to post some pictures Monday.