Lighting Questions

[Scotthop57]

Just had some random questions while tinkering with my lights and reading other posts on here.


First, my tank is near an area where it receives indirect sun light during the day. My question is, right now I have my lights coming on at 12:30pm and going off at 7:30pm so that they are on for a chunk of time in the evening for viewing purposes. Does getting the indirect sunlight mess with the plants photo period or does it not really matter?

Second, I read a lot of people ramping up their lights. I have a Chirios light so
I can do so. I just wasn’t sure if there is a benefit or downside to doing so or if it’s just a personal preference type of thing.

And then do you include the ramping time into the total or is it separate. Say I’m running 60% for 7 hours. Would I add like a 30-45 minutes to that before and after for slowly ramping for total of 8 to 8 1/2 hours or just have the ramp up and down still fall in the 7 hours.

A second part to that if I did decide to ramp the light, when dialing in my CO2 would do I still want my CO2 to be at the saturation point that I am shooting for when the ramping starts or when I have hit my max light setting for the day.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Does getting the indirect sunlight mess with the plants photo period or does it not really matter?

It might, it might not! But it's definitely one variable that can mess a tank up. Removing direct sunlight can be really helpful. Most professional galleries do not allow a single bit of sunlight to hit their tanks.

You can use the Photone app on your phone, with either a DIY paper diffuser or the cosine diffuser accessory, to get an accurate measurement of the amount of PAR hitting your aquarium from the sunlight.

Here's my tank in the winter. The low Colorado sun hits the tank in the morning AND afternoon (south facing wall). I kept getting algae on the foreground plants and wondered if it was the sunlight...


HOLY SH*T. 800+ PAR hitting my tank for a few hours twice a day is a LOT of light. I'm sure a lot of that is lost through the glass, but my high-powered lights only hit about 350 PAR at the surface when set to 70%.

800PAR... that's ridiculous...

Second, I read a lot of people ramping up their lights. I have a Chirios light so
I can do so. I just wasn’t sure if there is a benefit or downside to doing so or if it’s just a personal preference type of thing.

Mostly personal preference. There hasn't been any conclusive evidence, anywhere, that ramping helps plants more or less. I do think it helps keep fish and other livestock comfortable though, so I always have a 15-30 minute ramp period until full lights come on for 8 hours. I never go more than 8 hours for the photoperiod.

And then do you include the ramping time into the total or is it separate. Say I’m running 60% for 7 hours. Would I add like a 30-45 minutes to that before and after for slowly ramping for total of 8 to 8 1/2 hours or just have the ramp up and down still fall in the 7 hours.

I'd include the ramp time, IMO. Lights on = plants trying to grow, no matter whether it's low light or high light.

A second part to that if I did decide to ramp the light, when dialing in my CO2 would do I still want my CO2 to be at the saturation point that I am shooting for when the ramping starts or when I have hit my max light setting for the day.

It wouldn't hurt to have your CO2 at full saturation when the lights come on, but if you can get it 60-75% of the way there when they come on that's fine, too. The strength of the light sets the "target pace" for plants to grow at. If the light is strong, they will need good CO2 and nutrients to "keep up" with the pace set by the light, or else they get unhappy and algae occurs.

If you have a long ramp time, you'd probably be fine with a similar-looking ramp time on your CO2. But it certainly wouldn't hurt anything other than use a bit more CO2 to have it reach saturation by the time lights come on.

Thanks for joining the forum!

 

[techman81]

I concur with everything @Naturescapes_Rocco mentioned. My personal experience with sunlight and even other light in the room with the tank: avoid it if you can. My nano tank in my dining area gets hit with the morning sunlight this time of year when no leaves are on the trees. I think it lead to an algae increase, so I try to keep the blinds angled to prevent that now. My main show tank is in my living room and I have an end table lamp by the right side of the tank. I used that lamp quite often since it was by my main chair. The problem was, I noticed plant growth on that side of the tank was far faster than the left and I also experienced algae on plants closest to that lamp. I've since stopped using that lamp unless I absolutely need it for reading. Things in the tank balanced out when I stopped.