Vacation: lights on or off?

[NadiaG]

I'm going on a vacation soon and will be gone for 10 days.
I think I got the feeding taken care of. One of my friends will stop by every other day and feed my fish. I will have the food dosed out in a pill box, so there is no confusion with amount of food.
But how do I go about lights? I don't have a timer for them. I have a full spectrum fluorescent white day light and blue (glo) LED. Should I just turn on the blue and run it for 10 days..? Leave no lights at all... My room is pretty well lit from sun (on sunny days, lol)
What should I do? Thanks

 

[DeirdreHoyle]

I always leave the lights off when I go on vacation. The fish will be fine especially if you get good sunlight in through the windows (and even if you don't). I think they would get stressed if they didn't have any "night time" for ten days lol

 

[Oscarr19]

If you have no plants then your fish will be fine with natural light only. You can keep your led off completely as well.

 

[Piratechest]

Following along. I Will be gone for 3 days to Tennessee.
Planted tank.

 

[NadiaG]

As of today the only live plant I have is anubias. I know they are pretty hardy plants and low lights, I think it will make it.
As for fish, I do lean towards no lights or the LEDs. I do not want to stress them much

 

[Tleyton]

When I'm gone for multiple days I use a light timer. Got one at Petco for like $15. You simple plug your lights into in and plug into the wall and set it for the time you want them to turn on and time you want them to turn off. That way, you don't have to worry about it. Just another option...

 

[Oscarr19]

Picked up my timers at Home Depot for 6$ So it's inexpensive and easier in the long run.

 

[Mileymoo]

I've got 5 here I don't use, do you live in England I'll post you one, my tank is on a timer and there great, you could carry on with it even when you get home and then your fish have a precise time of the lights on and off, let me know, if shipping fees are not to expensive I'll send you one/two

 

[NadiaG]

I've got 5 here I don't use, do you live in England I'll post you one, my tank is on a timer and there great, you could carry on with it even when you get home and then your fish have a precise time of the lights on and off, let me know, if shipping fees are not to expensive I'll send you one/two

That is very kind of you! But I live in the US....

 

[NadiaG]

I still have time before vacation, so I guess I can look into buying a timer.

More suggestions?!

 

[mrvincent]

Buy a cheap Timer at any hardware store.

 

[NadiaG]

Yeah, I just looked for some online and they are CHEAP! I am definitely going to get one for my fishy friends.

Thanks for help everyone!

 

[Mattyfelts]

I just left mine off with the window open, nothing bad happened and i dont think the fishies mind. Definitely not leaving them on because algae will go insane!

 

[jehenry89]

Get a timer. You can get one at walmart for $4.00.

 

[Abiduwhabi]

Yeah, timers are my best friends. I don't run a tank without one because.
1. It helps me remember to turn them on.
2. It helps me give my plants the required light they need.
3. Super cheap to get one
4. I'm lazy

One thing you may want to be sure of though is if you need a timer with three prongs. I got all giddy when I found holiday timers at walmart for $3 a twin pack. I bought 5 packs then realized when I got to hooking them up they were only 2 prong.

 

[fishyd]

Timers are my best friend with this. I used to work from home so it was never an issue, but when I started my new job, picked up a couple timers so that my tanks would keep to a regular schedule. Was also great while my wife and I went on a week vacation too, allowed the fish to be comfortable with their schedule.

 

[mrvincent]

I have a timer on main tank light, timer on CO2, timer on my QT/Fry tank.

 

[NadiaG]

Can one timer manage 2 different lights and turn them on/off at different time?

 

[mrvincent]

Yeah, but that's not a 4$ timer. What you can do is buy two cheap timer and it'll do what u want.

OrElse, you can invest in a $100+ timer with more output controllers.

 

[NadiaG]

Lol, yeah the cheaper version is a winner!
I found one at Home Depot, it's a digital timer for $6. Read the reviews for it, some of them were left by fish keepers, good to know it works!