Siesta to Ward of Algae?

[SnakeEyes27]

My nitrates and phosphates are at 0, but is still get a light coat of green algae on my glass and rock.

1) Is this expected?
2) When I was running a planted tropical tank it was common practice to turn your lights off midday for an hour to prevent algae blooms. The logic was that alga needed ~ an uninterupted 8 hours or so of light to grow while the plants werent affected by the interuption. Would a siesta affect the corals? Has anyone tried this?

Thanks,

 

[House of Laughter]

Snake,

Sorry to say your phosphatas are not zero - see jackson's signature. The only true way to know if it is zero is to test with a colormeter (hannah) for Po4 - the lowest i have ever seen my phosphates on that test was .02 - and that's really low. still get algae on the glass, just not a predominantly as others.

Algae will still grow even with ambent light from the room, so, unless you wrap your tank in black sheets, it'll grow as long as it has a food source.

Good luck - the quest for zero has begun

House

 

[LeslieS]

How old is your tank?

At one point after I set mine up, everythig was neon green with "algae dust".

My tank is three years old, and I still get it on the glass if I don't clean it every day - especially in the summer as my tank has windows on two sides. It is easy to brush off with the mag float.

 

[Paul B]

My tank is three years old, and I still get it on the glass

My tank is 40 years old and I still get it on the glass.

 

[SnakeEyes27]

Mines only 2 months old so i got a way to go... Are there any general tips around lighting to combat it? The siesta was a sweet trick with freshwater. Right now I my cycle is:

1 Hr Actinic - 6 Hours Actinic & Daylight - 1 Hr Actinic

 

[LeslieS]

Mines only 2 months old

OK, it's just part of the cycle. Just enjoy the pretty green stage Some people do keep an abreviated photo period while their tank is cycling, but I am not sure how short.