Question about timings for a planted tank

[Raws69]

Hi warning newb question incoming....

If in a planted fish tank the lights should only be on 6-8 hours. But you want to view the tank for a bit after work (between say 7pm to 8pm) resulting in the lights coming on around mid-day With the co2 an 1hr or so before the lights. Are there any Issues with this Approach?

hope this makes sense

 

[Wills]

I dont think there is an issue with this approach I do the same on my tank (not the best example right now...) only thing I would be wary of is if it is in direct sunlight or a very well lit room as it will increase your total photo period to more than your 6-8 hour window.

Wills

 

[Raws69]

That was my worry as the living room gets good light at both ends throughout the day. Is there a way round this other than shutting the curtains

 

[Byron]

We often think of light being involved with the plants, and forget (or do not even realize) that light also impacts the fish just as much. Fish require one period of "daylight" and one period of total and complete darkness [meaning, no ambient room light of any sort, as black as it gets]. Both of these time blocks need to be a continuous period of several hours. For fish, the dark period is more significant than the light, assuming the light is not too intense to begin with, that is another problem for fish. The period in between the "daylight" and "dark" at both ends, representing dawn and dusk, can be whatever is left over after the daylight and dark blocks are established. This suits the fish, but here plants can have issues if this dawn/dusk is too long or too bright. And algae can take advantage of any light.

The total darkness is somewhat pre-set, depending upon the time of year. It is only going to be several hours in summer, a few more in winter, but it is this "darkness" black period that is necessary and has to be worked around.