How Often Should Light Be On?

[crackmonkey]

I usually put my tank light on assoon as it gets dark till morning.

 

[Chrisv32]

You shouldn't have your tank light on for too long. No more than 8-10 hours a day for me or else i get a bad algae bloom. Most people I know turn them on in the morning and then off for a short time during the day and then back on in a little and off again when they go to bed.

 

[fatguppy]

We use one of those timers for ours. It comes on about 3 in the afternoon and goes off around midnight. This suits our lifestyle so the tank is illuminated whilst we are at home and we don't have to worry about when it went on/when it goes off etc.

chrisv32 is right you will get a hell of a lot of algae if you leave it on much longer than 8-10 hours. Algae is not a major problem but it looks unsightly and creates extra work.

 

[Ava_Banana]

I try to give them a "realistic" day (within the boundaries of us wanting to look at it too during the evening... )

If you are turning the light on at night for all of the night..............the fish don't get a chance for a "night" of their own...they are in a permanent daytime ...or is that not what you meant?

 

[chishnfips]

I turn on my day light at 8 and off at 5 then I put the moon light on from 5 till 10

 

[k3vin2k3]

Its only on when I am in the basement, other than that its off the whole time.

 

[Barracuda518]

I turn mine off at night and its off during the day until I get home from work, then I turn it on. Its on more during the weekends because Im home more. During the day, I open the blinds on the windows and that lights up the room and a little bit of the aquarium.

 

[Ethos]

My room is usally very bright, so I onkly light it at night when its feeding time....

 

[rdd1952]

I try to give them a "realistic" day (within the boundaries of us wanting to look at it too during the evening... )

If you are turning the light on at night for all of the night..............the fish don't get a chance for a "night" of their own...they are in a permanent daytime ...or is that not what you meant?

[snapback]878645[/snapback]​

Very true. Basically, they have the sunlight all day and then the tank lights at night. Fish need dark too, especially fish like corys that are nocturnal and feed once the lights go off. Put them on a timer during the day with the lights on for 4 or 5 hours in the morning and then again in the evening when your home. Leave them off at night so the fish can "sleep" too.

Edit: Also, it depends on whether you have live plants or not. If you don't have live plants, you really only need the lights on when you ae there to view the fish. You can leave them off otherwise.