Lighting Timings

[barlow1984]

I'm just wondering if there is any issue with the timings that I have my tank set up for. I'm a pretty nocturnal person, and I almost never go to bed before midnight. The reason I wanted a tank was so there was something interesting to look at while I'm working until all hours of the night on my own.

Now my question is that is there a problem in having my lights on from 11am until 11pm every day? I just wonder about the amount of natural light they will get during the day, so technically there is much more than the 12 hours that I have the lighting on.

Addition, I also have a few plants in there...

Thanks

 

[paradiddle]

id suggest using 9 hours a day light, keep the tank out of natural light as much as possible as this will lead to algae, make sure its not near a radiator or window to be sure of a set temperature and exposure to sun light.
what size is the tank?
You want to aim for around 8-9 hours for a mid-medium high low demanding plant sent up, for light thirsty plants you will need to adjust and find your personal time scale
but in my opinion 11 hours is too much and youll soon see algae blooms if your unlucky enough.

Also make sure if its a new tank you check to see if the lights adjust the temp of the water as i found with mine, it pushes my water temp to 30!! so i removed half the hood now it sits at a nice 27 degrees.

hope this helps you

 

[fluttermoth]

If you're going to be up late, looking at the tank, then just switch the lights on later

 

[leighton_87]

If you're going to be up late, looking at the tank, then just switch the lights on later

+1

Generally it's recommended you only keep the aquarium lights on 6-8 hours a day to avoid algae problems

The fish won't mind there say starting/finishing later

Also try and avoid any direct sunlight on the tank

 

[barlow1984]

Thanks for the comments, the tank is very well placed in an alcove so well sheltered from much sun light, but obviously there is some daylight around sometimes even in sunny England! I've reduced the timings down to 9 hours following your advice.

 

[leighton_87]

Daylight should be fine it's direct sunlight that will cause a problem

It's rarely possible to keep a tank out of daylight

 

[fish+peace]

If you're going to be up late, looking at the tank, then just switch the lights on later

+1

Generally it's recommended you only keep the aquarium lights on 6-8 hours a day to avoid algae problems

The fish won't mind there say starting/finishing later

Also try and avoid any direct sunlight on the tank

I have a pack of the electronic timers from argos and there great, avoid the analogue (dial) ones as they loose too much time.
I would say 10 hours of light is fine for a planted as the plants should compete for the nutrients - what i do is set them for 5 hours then 2 hours off when the moonlight (blue leds) kick in and then back on for 5 hours

 

[sputnick]

i have one tank that is on a timer and one that is not. my timer turns on at 8:30AM and shuts off at 10:35PM. my other one iturn on when i get up. school days about 7AM. and shut them off about the same time as my other tank. the one tank that doesnt run on a times has plants in it and they are doing exceptionally well. i have not had any algea problems as of yet but the rocks in both my tanks are turning a brownish color so im keeping a close eye on those. but it doesnt seem too major

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I run my tank lights from 2pm until 10pm. No problem. I dont want the lights on when I'm not around much to see the fish. My plants get the light they need, no matter what time of day it is. My fish have adapted to the lighting, I think. No issues with that. (I have the lights on a timer, so that even when I am away from home, the lights go on and off automatically - this is only important if you have natural plants though. Fish don't actually need lights on the tank. The ambient light from the room is sufficient for them.)


I have the lights go off at 10pm because that's generally when I go to bed. If I were you, I'd probably go from 3pm - 12am.