# Two siesta periods in a day?



## bammbamm (May 12, 2006)

Hi all,

Have anyone experienced 2 siestas in a photo period? 
I'm using 4-3-4 (4h on , 3h off and 4h on) photo period since years and nowadays I want to try 3-2-3-2-3 (3h on, 2h off, 3h on, 2h off and 3h on). Have anyone tried such a photo period, if yes I'll be glad to hear pros and cons on plant growth and on algae control.

Detailed info about my lighting, photo-period and tank;
Lighting: 348W T8, 450W MH
Tank size: 215G (reduced from 304G  )
CO2 injection: 7/24 pH-controlled
Photo-period: 
12:00-16:00 T8 on 
12:30-14:00 MH on
16:00-19:00 Siesta
19:00-23:00 T8 on
19:30-21:00 MH on

So MH are on for 1.5h + 1.5h in a day. To reduce a bit heating effect of MH I want to split it in 3 photo cycle with 1h. I'm not sure though if it will help or not. Any idea?


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

I've never split the photoperiod like that, but I don't see what it would hurt. No different than a "partly cloudy" day with thick clouds occassionally rolling by.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

The siesta schedule certainly seems to work, I use it myself. But I have always had some quams about it interfering with natural circadian rhythms of the plants and animals. It seems a bit excessive to expect the plants to ramp up their entire photosynthetic processes three times in one day, only to shut them down a few hours later. Now this is purely intuitive on my part, I have no evidence that it would cause harm.

What about keeping the single siesta schedule, and running the MH lighting for two short periods during each of the longer photoperiods provided by the T8s? That way the plants are not completely shutting down three times a day, and it should solve your heating problems.


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## bosmahe1 (May 14, 2005)

Shutting down lights might shorten the life of the flourescent and maybe the MH bulbs as well. As expensive as they are, I might think about it twice about having two siestas. I don't think it will harm the plants or animals, some tropical areas will have a thunderstorm daily. That would account for one siesta.


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## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

I'm do 4 on 4 off 4 on 2wpg on a 40gal tank.
after the first 2 months cycling this tank, 
I am algae free dosing only excel and trace,
and getting great growth. i'm testing some
reddish plants soon, so we'll see how it goes.


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## bammbamm (May 12, 2006)

Thanks for all replies.
I'm starting to use new photo period today. I'll post if I see any effect on plant /algae growth and any effect on bulb's life time


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi bammbamm,

I do a single split period on my tanks (3 hours On / 8 hours Off / 3.5 hours On) with good results. I do agree with bosmahe1's comment on the reduction of bulb life expectancy. Based on PAR meter readings I have taken; I probably should change my bulbs at least once a year or sooner. You might want to plan on bulb replacements every 9 months unless you can do quantitative measurements to determine intensity degradation.


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## bammbamm (May 12, 2006)

Hi Roy,

I'm actually using relatively cheap bulbs. I've 58W T8 bulbs which are 150cm. And it was hard enough to find those T8s at that size so I ordered one box of Aquarelle and one box of 965 from a Philips dealer (they were much cheaper than any aquarium shop). I did the same for MH bulbs too, I bought one box of Osram Powerstar 150/D (5600K). In short, I have many bulbs for replacement  And I'm already replacing bulbs every 9 months (my tank is off during summer due to local climate, I'm living in Istanbul).

Thanks for your advice though, I can't measure PAR values but I'll check algae growth rate to replace bulbs.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi bammbamm,

My wife and I had the opportunitity to visit Istanbul and we had a wonderful time! We have excellent memories of friendly people, beautiful mosques, and excellent cuisine! I did not see a lot of aquarium shops however! LOL!


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## bammbamm (May 12, 2006)

Seattle_Aquarist said:


> Hi bammbamm,
> 
> My wife and I had the opportunitity to visit Istanbul and we had a wonderful time! We have excellent memories of friendly people, beautiful mosques, and excellent cuisine! I did not see a lot of aquarium shops however! LOL!


Hi Roy,

Sorry for my late reply. I'm glad to hear that you like Istanbul  Actually there are many petshops, but it's hard to tell aquarium shop for them and sellers are really ignorant of planted aquariums, just some exceptions (there is only one "tropica" dealer for ex). That's why I'm mostly using online-shops, and also I like wasting time on DIY projects 

If I get back to the subject of photo-period, I've used it for 4 weeks. And I havent seen any advantages except 1-1.5C reduction of temperature.Plants' growts rate was nearly same.


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## joshp428 (Nov 16, 2007)

I ran a pretty high light planted 55g tank, like 4watts a gal. GE 9325k PC bulbs and t8's. Never did siestas and I definitely did not replace bulbs every 9mo to a year despite what they say and never had any problems. I run them till they die. The only bulbs affordable enough to replace at that interval would be the t8's. But to each his own, just my experience.


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