Since acclimating my tank to my T5 fixture I had all 6 bulbs on for 12 hours per day. Two bulbs were on for one hour before and after all 6 bulbs were on to simulate dawn and dusk.
About a month or two ago, as part of a multi-faceted approach to reduce the cyano outbreak, I reduced the number of hours all the bulbs were lit each day. The new schedule has all 6 bulbs on for 10.5 hours per day. I also rearranged the bulbs so that my two ATI Blue Plus bulbs were on during the dawn and dusk hours. I rearranged the bulbs to encourage the growth of coraline algae on the back glass. The algae had been disappearing ever since I upgraded to the brighter T5 fixture.
The modified lighting schedule did indeed encourage the growth of coraline. It again started growing on the front glass. I had to get the razor blade out last week to scrape the algae. This is the first time I had to do this since I upgraded the lighting.
dreams of snow pond...
13 years ago
