ran into a great thread on RC last night regarding lighting cycles …this topic was discussed a few months ago,when i brought up the fact that i use a 24 hour photo period on my refugium… finally found out that cheato does use the C3 pathway for photosynthesis…i’m still leaving my fuge lit 24/7 given the fact of low light output from the bulbs i use comparatively and the nominal adverse affects.
I don’t know of anyone who runs there tank lights continuous, there is usually at least one day I’ll leave the lights out for the whole day and night. They need a break at times and it seems to help them. The fuge light I do leave running, it’s only 18 watt P.C. and the macro goes crazy.
the lights in my main tank are on for 10 hours…your right, it would be odd for someone to leave their lights on 24/7 …i think the scientist who mentioned the 24 hour photo period had the coral included in an experiment.
i know a guy who’s timers went bad and stayed on…meanwhile he was very busy and only viewed his tank during his set photo period, so he didn’t find out the lights were on 24/7 till the following weekend, which was about 4 days of constant light. he lost alot of coral.
makes sense given the over production of oxygen and deleterious effects on the coral physiology