How long can I leave the light on?

[LudicrouSpeed]

On the box for my strip light it said I should leave the light on for only 8-12 hours a day. I was wondering where the logic from that came from?

My tank is in a room where it gets no direct sunlight, but the room ends up getting half-lit up by bounced window light. Should that light be considered fish light time?

If they are lit for too long will that stress them out?

 

[BBradbury]

Tank Lighting

On the box for my strip light it said I should leave the light on for only 8-12 hours a day. I was wondering where the logic from that came from?

My tank is in a room where it gets no direct sunlight, but the room ends up getting half-lit up by bounced window light. Should that light be considered fish light time?

If they are lit for too long will that stress them out?

Hello Lud...

I don't know about other tanks, but the plants in my tanks are tropical and used to long hours of daylight. I have my tank lights on timers, set for 12 hours on and 12 off. I don't consider light from outside sources. Some will claim too much light will cause algae problems, but I have little or no visible algae in my planted tanks. Fish are pretty much indifferent to lighting conditions. They do need periods of darkness or dusk, so they can rest. The plants do too. The 12 and 12 set up has worked for my tanks for the last 10 years or so.

B

 

[Delapool]

Hello Lud...

I don't know about other tanks, but the plants in my tanks are tropical and used to long hours of daylight. I have my tank lights on timers, set for 12 hours on and 12 off. I don't consider light from outside sources. Some will claim too much light will cause algae problems, but I have little or no visible algae in my planted tanks. Fish are pretty much indifferent to lighting conditions. They do need periods of darkness or dusk, so they can rest. The plants do too. The 12 and 12 set up has worked for my tanks for the last 10 years or so.

B

Wow - that is a really impressive time. Can I ask if you do anything special with not getting any algae? Any tips?

 

[Grumble69]

For low light, you can leave them on for long periods of time like that. The fish don't seem to mind.

Now I've converted my main tank to a planted tank and it has a med-high light. I can't keep it on for long periods. About 9hrs is all I can do because of algae.

 

[Delapool]

Is that 9 hours in one go or broken?

 

[BBradbury]

Controlling Algae

Wow - that is a really impressive time. Can I ask if you do anything special with not getting any algae? Any tips?

Hello Del...

My tanks generally have subdued lighting and have been running for quite a while. No more than 1 to 1.5 watts of light per gallon. Still using the old florescent lamps. I keep larger tanks and the surfaces all have a thick cover of floating plants that apparently take in the nitrates that algae feeds on. So, there's little or nothing for algae to live on. I feed very little flaked food, so there are no phosphates dissolved in the tank water. Flaked foods are high phosphate and an algae favorite. I do large, frequent water changes and keep emersed land plants in the tanks too. The roots from the land plants take in any extra nitrogen even before the bacteria does. I keep large populations of Ramshorn snails too. These little guys are real algae eaters. I guess the tanks aren't a good environment for any forms of algae.

That's pretty much it.

B

 

[mrvincent]

Photoperiod depends on if it's a planted tank and the power of the light.

Is this T8, T5 or T5HO lights ? How much bulbs ? How much watts ? What color (in K°)

Topless or not ?

Planted or not ? If there's no real plants, the less is the best.

 

[Grumble69]

Is that 9 hours in one go or broken?

I've got it broken into 3hrs with a siesta followed by 6. But that's only because it fits my schedule to enjoy the tank.

 

[Delapool]

I've got it broken into 3hrs with a siesta followed by 6. But that's only because it fits my schedule to enjoy the tank.

Mine is similar. Partly to let the heat go from under the hood but I had also read somewhere that algae can't start growing as quick as plants, so the siesta helps the plants more than the algae. Could be off base there.