Lights On Lights Off?

[Tish Fank]

another question, should i be leaving my lights on all the time for my tank? would the fish and plants benefit from a few hours of darkness or does it not really matter? i have a 35 leter tank with some real plants and some cheri barbs. im currently cycling (fish-less) a 3ft tank and heard its best to do so in darkness but when its stocked and planted, again is there an optimum lighting situation?

thanks guys!

 

[pippoodle]

10 hours on 14 hours off are fine for plants
mine are heavilly planted and have 10-12 hours of lights a day

 

[OldMan47]

The time the light is on depends on what you see in your tank. If the plants are not growing, try a little more light. If the algae is taking off and filling the tank, cut back on the light time. I run various amounts from 7 to 10 hours depending on the tank. All of my lights are on timers so that I can keep it all straight. The ones at 7 hours were having algae problems at 8 hours and the ones at 10 hours had trouble growing properly at 9 hours. Anything more than 10 to 12 hours does not help the plants but can lead to algae problems quite easily.