switching the lights on and off, on timer

[nilesh7318]

i am having a planted tank of 240 liters. some time before i had an algae problem in my tank. some green algae was on the substrate and also on plants. after this one of of my friend advised me to set the lights off for some time and then switch it on again. so i set the lights on a timer, one hour ON and 30 minutes OFF and again one hour ON. this cycle continues and the total lights on period is 7 hours per day. now surprisingly there is no algae in the tank. but i am worried about the plants growth and health.
my question is that, will this effect the plants growth in any kind.

 

[Brookster123]

I've heard of split photo periods bit that's a lot haha, you could try just cutting down to 6 toal hours at once or two 3 hr periods, is your tank getting any direct sunlight??

 

[clarkm]

I do 3 hours on in the morning then off from noon to 4 and then on from 4 pm to 8 pm

 

[nilesh7318]

no there is no direct sunlight

 

[jim532]

I would think that many on/off cycles will significantly shorten the life of the bulbs and the ballast.

 

[jim532]

My light cycle is 6am-8am and 5:30pm-11:30pm. But if the wife is home during the dark period sometimes she turns the lights on because she doesn't like looking at a dark tank. So my tank actually gets more light than I intend.


Instead of adjusting your light cycle to avoid algae, maybe adding a couple Otocinclus catfish. Also reduce the amount of food at feeding time. Some folks say adding a daily dose of Flourish Excel helps curb algae growth. 2 symptoms of algae infestations are high nitrates and co2 deficiency.

 

[nilesh7318]

thanks all of you for your help. so in my case if the light goes on and off so many times in a day, does that mean that mean that my plant growth will be affected.

well if the plant growth will be affected then i will go for the 2 three hours photo period. thank you all.