dimmed

Plant response to less light: positive! Our electricity was out for just a few minutes the other day, and when that happens in the middle of my light cycle, it won't turn on until the next "event" is triggered in the timer. In this case, the main lights had just come on for the day and nothing else would happen until it switched to blue 'moonlight.' I didn't feel like tinkering with the override settings, so I just left it lights-out for most of the day. Thought: well, maybe that will knock out some algae, and it won't be long enough to kill anything.

Later in the evening I paused to notice how different the tank looked so dim, with a bit of exposure coming in from the side (overhead on in the next room). Then I stopped and looked closer: my crypts had taken a different form. They were holding the leaves more upright, revealing the pinkish undersides. It looked so nice.

Even the plants on the short end of the tank which I kind of ignore lately because they lie quite flat and aren't big enough to look attractive yet, had a pretty upright habit. They were all reaching for more light.

Impulsively I decided to cut the light period yet again, to hold this shape. Reset the timer so now the total is just 6 hours, with only half of that full brights. So far so good. You can even notice the bronze hue of the crypts in the background here (left, just below an apono leaf), diffuse light shining through them.

I'm eager to see it continue to grow.