Lighting Cycle

[airricks]

I have a FOWLR tank that I've had set up for a couple months now. I'd like to cut the light cycle down mainly to help control algae. I've been feeding the fish twice a day, before and after work. I was thinking about having the lights come on for an hour while I'm home before work, like 7-8, then turn back off until 4 and then come back on from like 4-10. On the weekends I would have them on 10-10 or something in case I'm home to see them.

Would this throw off the fish to have the lights come on then turn back off until later in the day? Also would a different light schedule on weekends have any affect on them? Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[CaptainAhab]

I prefer to keep my lights on a consistent schedule. That's just me, I don't have any evidence that using a weekend schedule would cause any harm. I'm a big believer in consistency (also known in my house as a control freak but what do they know.. anyway....) However , if you're fighting algae, have you looked at your feeding (possible overfeeding/type of food) , your water parameters, are you doing regular water changes (using RO/DI)? These can be pretty big contributors to algae issues as well as lighting.

Does your tank get direct sunlight?

 

[melosu58]

Welcome to AA. Read this for nuisance algea. Seems like you might have a couple reasons for the algea.

 

[cmor1701d]

Cut your feeding schedule to once every other day after work. Turn your lights on for a just a few hours after you get home. Lights on/off multiple times a day can cause stress. Fish do like consistency (without being control freaks). The combination will help your algae problem.

 

[airricks]

Thanks for the replies. The algae isn't really all that terrible, I just figured leaving the lights on all day while I'm gone would only make the problem worse. I'll probably just make the lights run 2-10 every day to keep things consistent and feed the fish once a day.