Lights on or off

[Anna94]

I used to keep my lights on for 6 hours (whites for 3 and blues for 3), but for 3 months now I’ve kept them off completely because I had really bad green algae and spent 2-3 hours scraping it off all sides of the glass. I only turn them on now for feeding time and water changes. Should I go back to keeping the lights on or do I not need them on at all?

 

[Autumnsky]

So if you don't have any plants which need light, it isn't a requirement. You might try just the white lights on for a couple of hours and don't use the blue ones. And see how it goes.

Often not changing the tank water frequently enough or enough volume of water per change is a contributing factor as is over feeding and often using basic flake foods. Some kinds seem to have more Phosphorus which I believe in overfeeding can cause too much and help with a great environment for algae.

It seems to my experience the blue lights encourage algae growth. I always have much more of the stuff growing after leaving them on at night.