How long for lights on?

[Convict2161]

Hey fellow Cichlid owners. Hope all is well!

Quick question. I have Africans and was wondering how long do you keep your lights on? I'm gone most of the day so I keep them off. When I'm ready to sit down in the living room I'll turn them on. Or if I have company I'll turn them on.

What's your lights on/ lights out schedule?

 

[garfy]

I have 1 hour of blue light followed by 7 hours of Bright light and finally another hour of blue light.I use timers for the lights.

 

[Mogurako]

Unless you have plants in the tank lights aren't needed unless you want to view the tank. I have plants in mine so my schedule is similar to Garfys.

 

[Convict2161]

I have 1 hour of blue light followed by 7 hours of Bright light and finally another hour of blue light.I use timers for the lights.

Hmmm... I never thought of that(timer) only problem is my marineland Led doesn't allow me to do that because on is blue and white and night is blue. Is ok to leave the blue(moonlight) on all night?

Did I mention I'm soooooo pumped for my 75g?!

 

[garfy]

Hmmm I wouldn't leave it on all night I think they need dark too.Is there no way of separating your blue from your bright?
And you should be pumped about your 75 it's great news.

 

[Convict2161]

Hmmm I wouldn't leave it on all night I think they need dark too.Is there no way of separating your blue from your bright?
And you should be pumped about your 75 it's great news.

No way to separate with the marineland. Kind of a weird setup. On is both blue and white and then there's a switch for just blue or completely off.

 

[garfy]

So your only choices with timers would be blue and white or off.
Or blue or off. If you get my drift lol

 

[Convict2161]

So your only choices with timers would be blue and white or off.
Or blue or off. If you get my drift lol

LoL yeah... I got it. I may look for a different light since the one I have will be too short for my 75. I mean it will work but there will be "dead" spots on each end of the tank. I guess because my tank now is a bow front it's taller then longer. So I'm not sure what to do. Spend the money or just but the 36" on the 48"

 

[garfy]

Ideally you want the biggest lights you can get in your tank.Mines 5 foot so I have 4 foot tubes.
My blue and bright are on separate plugs so I use 2 timers and overlap the 2 types of lights.It works great.

 

[Convict2161]

Ideally you want the biggest lights you can get in your tank.Mines 5 foot so I have 4 foot tubes.
My blue and bright are on separate plugs so I use 2 timers and overlap the 2 types of lights.It works great.

I may just buy a light that will fit the tank. Any suggestions? No real plants so what's a good light with that moon effect. Also LED would be nice. I like the shimmer effect it gives. Have you seen one? If not I can post my YouTube video.

 

[garfy]

Yeah it's a nice look and I threw away the boxes for my lights so I'm not sure what make they are.You could try doing a bit of research on google though.

 

[Convict2161]

Yeah it's a nice look and I threw away the boxes for my lights so I'm not sure what make they are.You could try doing a bit of research on google though.

Yeah I'm gonna do that now. Pet solutions has some nice LED lights with moonlight effect but man... $$$$$ one is over $600!!!

 

[garfy]

Yeah led's are expensive at the moment but it's still relatively new technology in this field.Good for saving energy though and great effect.Maybe there are some cheaper on eBay.

 

[Convict2161]

Yeah led's are expensive at the moment but it's still relatively new technology in this field.Good for saving energy though and great effect.Maybe there are some cheaper on eBay.

Gonna try eBay. PS have a 48" for $200.

 

[garfy]

Sounds good

 

[bcurlacher54]

why dont you just use a light schedule where you can manually turn it on/off. my light goes on around 230 when my daughter gets home from school and turns it on to feed them and off around 900-915 when i turn it off.

 

[mfdrookie516]

When I kept my mbuna, I would turn the lights on for about 15 minutes every 2-3 days when I fed them... and occasionally if I wanted to take pics or had someone over.

 

[tiger terror]

Convict,I also have a 75g&use a 36"marineland dual light mode along w/2 48" coral life t5's all on a coral life timer & overlapping..the marineland is only used for lunar lighting..Also my daytime lighting runs from 6:30 am to 10:30 pm....

 

[Convict2161]

Convict,I also have a 75g&use a 36"marineland dual light mode along w/2 48" coral life t5's all on a coral life timer & overlapping..the marineland is only used for lunar lighting..Also my daytime lighting runs from 6:30 am to 10:30 pm....

Nice tank man... So how does that marineland 36" work with the 75g? Do I really need to spend 200 bucks and buy the 48"? Do u have a pic of just the marineland on? I would like to see first hand so know.

 

[tiger terror]

Here's a pic,just keep in mind its from my phone..the shimmer effect is actually very visible,I also have a glass top for the tank...if it were me I'd just keep the light you have&add a 48" coral life....also all plants are live plants...