well with a continued increase in mass that I keep throwing the stuff out, I'll assume it's removing something from the water column.

I refer you to my previous post.

Photosynthesis is acutally a simple equation involving conversion of carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and a carbohydrate. It doesn't really have anything to with nutrient removal. If anything, the processes of cell division and other growth functions would be what's pulling and binding up nutrients from the water.

It's also important to realize that our macroalgaes only bind up nutrients, not use them up. So it's important that we see good growth and harvest/remove some of the biomass from our sumps from time to time or we're actually not accomplishing anything by keeping the stuff alive.

Long story short, if you're seeing good growth keeping the lights on, I wouldn't see a problem with it as long as there isn't any risks with something like Caulerpa going sexual on you and poluting your tank; however, I was always under the impression that keeping the lights on 24/7 was the way to keep Caulerpa from going sexual, not the cause of it.

To say that nobody remembers grade 9 science class is on the insulting side, man. Sorry to point that out and not trying to be confrontational or anything. However, there is something to what you say about the effect of darkness on photosynthesis efficiency... see the ideas in this link as an example:

http://www.aslo.org/lo/toc/vol_8/issue_3/0338.pdf

It wasnt meant to be offensive so step away from the computer, take a breath, and lighten up a little.

didn't you read the part about not trying to be confrontational??? you might be the one who needs to lighten up... don't ya think? Anyway, sorry to the original poster for getting distracted from the point of the conversation... as you said originally, photosynthesis is much more efficient when there is a period of darkness. Doesn't mean the algae won't continue to grow, it just means that maybe it would grow faster if there was a dark period (and hence extract more nutrients in the process). However, i don't pretend to know everything, and this is just an opinion based on what I've read and learned so far (in grade 9 science class, right? )

Hello,

Ryan, please be polite.

Titus

Both of you cut it out.

Sorry, won't happen again.

Pardon my disagreement...
Photosynthesis is the process plants (and some animals) use to fix carbon used to build the structure of their bodies. During photosynthesis carbon dioxide is consumed, the carbon from the CO2 is fixed to form organic molecules for building the organisms structure, and providing sugars used as metabolites for energy, and oxygen is exhaled.

If photosythesis is not occuring, then there is no carbon fixation, and consequently no growth. Consequently, growth DOES mean photosynthesis is occuring.