Quote Originally Posted by LoneStar View Post
Water chemistry would be more of an issue of algea growth than running lights for longer periods of time.
I have always thought this to be the case as well but I don't think this is always the only factor. I was speaking to a guy who has been doing this for years, doing talks around the US on the hobby ect. An expert. He realized that after the corals reach the peak photo exposure any time after that his MHs were feeding algae growth. He dialed the time back on his lights and his algae issues began to dissipate. I am starting to notice the same in my tank the algae growth has slowed and the coral continues to thrive. Maybe a coincidence. Wanted to see if anyone else had tried this. I have dealt with a small amount of hair algae and made all the other changes I can think of before this (change bulb, increase water flow, 20% monthly water changes, phosphate removers, ect.). The shorter photo period seems to be helping, at least in my case.