lighting questions pls help

[shadyfish]

Ok so I have a topfin 55gal that comes with two hoods each able to hold one bulb currently I have a blue actinic light that I use for nighttime in one and a regular bulb in the other my question is can I run the blue light all night long or will it mess with the fish having constant light in the tank? Can anyone help me out with any help possible thanks? I run my daylight until 6pm then cut the daylight off and run the blue light untill midnight, is this ok?

 

[Tropical boy]

I would stick with the one light, as you said the fish do need a day and night setting and this light will not give a night setting for your fish. I would especially advise against keeping your blue light on if you have any nocturnal fish, which only usually feed in the dark. There are other night lights available which can be fully submersed in your tank. There are moonlights available that can be submersed in your tank without causing any ill effect.
The web site attached shows some of these. Good luck.

http://www.paraquatics.co.uk/en-gb/dept_179.html

 

[BigJim]

I'd use some small LED moonlights instead of the actinic bulb. You could probably build a moonlight for less than $25.

 

[shadyfish]

What is a good lighting schedule to keep? I have a red tailed barracuda and small tiger dat

 

[Tropical boy]

Aim for around 10 hours a day to give the fish enough light

 

[shadyfish]

I forgot to mention that the lights will only light up half the tank when they are individually run so I allways have a darker side for them to hide does that make a diffrence?

 

[BigJim]

You really only need to leave the lights on all day if you have live plants. If you don't have live plants, just turn the lights on when you want to see the fish.

 

[shadyfish]

Wow I didn't realize that so turning the lights on randomly to see the fish won't impact them or their daily routine/cycle?

 

[BigJim]

It won't bother them much if you're just using the low-power lights that come stock with the tank. If you're turning the lights off and on every five minutes it's better to leave them on, but if you turn the lights off and on a couple times a day, it's not a big deal.

I have my planted tanks on a timer so the lights are on at 4:30AM, off at 9:00AM, on again at 3:00PM, and off again at 9:30PM. It doesn't seem to bother my fish.

 

[fort384]

For moonlight, you can get these cool LED "tapes" that actually will stick right onto the bottom of your current fixture.

I think I paid about $25 for the leds, the transformer to plug 'em in, and shipping... here is what it looked like:

 

[shadyfish]

That's great to know I've been sticking to a schedule without any live plants so there's no reason thanks everyone