Will A Blackout Kill My Riccia?

[Misskiwi67]

I'm going away for a week for spring break, and my options are to leave the lights on or off. Will leaving them off kill my riccia?

 

[AMS]

Im not sure, but a week may be pushing it. Why not invest in a cheap timer at a hardware store? I bought mine for $7. In my opinion thats a small price to pay instead of risking it.

 

[George Farmer]

No light for 7 days will probably do irreversable harm unless there is plenty of natural light.

I understand Riccia is quite fragile to blackouts. Perhaps Jimbooo can "shed some light" for us?

Certainly do not leave your lights on for 7 days though. This will cause massive algae infestation and also harm your plants by starving them of darkness. They need the dark to respire (take in oxygen).

As mentioned a plug-in timer is your best bet. I recommend these for any planted tank.

 

[jimbooo]

oops, sorry just found this thread. it'll die, i did a blackout with a tub of riccia in the cupboard to kill of some hair algae when it was at it's worst, after 5 days all the riccia was transparent and dead.

i'd buy a timer if i were you. just give it 5/6 hours of light a day and it will survive and the algae should not take hold.