Aquarium Lighting Advice

[JCLJorgenson]

I have a 10 gallon tank with a flourescent light. It has five tropical fish and four live plants. I want to make sure I am providing the proper amount of light each day and I hear it is typically in the 10-12 hour range.

My dilemma is that I like to have the light on in the morning when I am feeding them and getting ready, but also like to have it on when I am home at night (usually go to bed around 10 pm). Weekends I may also ahve it on for most fo the day and night.

I know some suggest using a timer to keep the light consistent. My question, is it okay to have the light come on for an hour or two in the morning, then off for numerous hours, and then on for another 10 hours in the evening? Is the main focus just total number of hours in a day or should the light be consistent for the period - like a typical day out in nature?

Can someone provide some general guidelines on lighting methods? Thanks!

 

[Terrance]

Like you said, most people like to have timers and keep the light on during the same time period everyday because many of them have plants.

I do not have plants in my display tank.
I always like to give my fish at least 8 hours of darkness and its always consistent (from 10pm to 7-8am is my bedtime). For the other 16 hours, there is always some form of light in the room (room light, sun light from nearby window, light from my refugium), so my fish does not go from complete darkness to bright lights (and vice versa). During the day I can leave my lights on for as long as I want and whenever I want.

 

[maestromad]

Some have split light times do yu could have say a 2 hour period in the morning then have it come back on in the evening!

 

[Mrduna01]

Some have split light times do yu could have say a 2 hour period in the morning then have it come back on in the evening!

I tried a split time myself but my fish always freak out for a while when the light comes on so I went back to one period to only freak them out once instead of twice lol

 

[Super_Blueberry]

I keep it simple myself. Turn the lights on when I wake my kids up at 7, turn it off when I go to bed, around 10. My fish don't so much as freak out when I turn the lights on, but they are definitely not fully awake. Half of them are always resting on the bottom, or hiding in the plants, but 10 minutes later, their all active and ready to eat.

 

[JCLJorgenson]

I keep it simple myself. Turn the lights on when I wake my kids up at 7, turn it off when I go to bed, around 10. My fish don't so much as freak out when I turn the lights on, but they are definitely not fully awake. Half of them are always resting on the bottom, or hiding in the plants, but 10 minutes later, their all active and ready to eat.

That's pretty much what I do, but i was concerned that was too much light (about 15 hours per day).

 

[Terrance]

Too much light does lead to algae.