Lighting Question

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wet44

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Hey all, I recently got a light with a white light setting and a blue light setting. You can hook both of them up to a timer. I currently have the white light set for 7 hours and the blue light set for 9 hours (one extra hour on each side of the white light time)
 
Does anyone have suggestions for the most light I can get out of it? Would it hurt to leave the blue on all the time?
 
Thanks!
 
Is there a reason as to why you would want to keep them on? Excess light will cause algae growth and disturb the fish sleep cycle.
 
If by "leave the blue on all the time" you mean 24/7...this will absolutely cause real issues for the fish, and the plants.  Both must have a period of complete darkness.  But if you actually mean leaving the blue on with the white during the 7 hours...maybe.  It depends upon the intensity and the plants.
 
I tried a LED unit for about two weeks, and it had separate blue lights which I never used on their own.  These will be insufficient to drive photosynthesis which means the plants cannot make use of the light, so algae will take the advantage.  I would suggest reducing the blue light from one hour to half an hour before and after the white light period; this is sufficient for a gradual light increase/decrease for the fish (like dawn and dusk) and less likely to increase algae, though it might still do this.
 
Byron.
 
Thanks for the advice. It's just a Marineland LED strip. I have rotala indica, java fern, anubias, a small crypt, and a dwarf lily plant. They are all mid to low light plants I believe.  
 
I will change the blues to just be half an hour before and after the whites and see how that goes. Not sure why I thought having the blue on the whole time would be a good idea; I now realize that that is a terrible idea, ha.
 

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