light question...

[dragonfish]

I was wondering if having a set, scheduled light on-off period daily is essential to the health and well-being of fish in an aquarium? I see many members here who have a set time for their lights, like say 10 hours on every day. I was just curious, because I don't leave me lights on that long, I only turn them on when I feed them or when I'm watching them, other then that, they're off.

[NJ Devils Fan]

A timer is recommended so the the fish will be on a schedule and everyday, they get up and go to sleep at the same time. You should leave the light on all day and off at night. Most people leave the lights on for about 10-12 hours a day. I leave mine on 16 hours because on the weekdays, I feed them when I get upm which is around 6:45. I keep them on all that time because everyone wants too look at them and you can't see when the light is off. The fish are all fine. I have been doing it for months and everything is fine.

[carpguy]

I use a timer more for my plants than for my fish, but I like that it gives my fish a regular and stable enviroment. Its cheap (less than $10 at the Home Depot, Lowes, etc.) and easy (plug it in set it, leave it alone). I keep the main lights on for 12 hours and a night light on for an additional 4.

I'm just getting an algae problem under control and if I have another episode in the near future I'll try to use a shorter photoperiod as part of the solution. Algae would be the main reason for not using NJD's extended photoperiod. It may not be as much of a problem at lower light levels (fish only), but its a consideration.

If the stability of the enviroment conflicts with your viewing habits, you might try breaking up the day. Having a "siesta" period has been suggested in the past as a way to combat algae. Most of the more current thinking I've seen on it suggests that its not the best idea for a planted tank, but it might be worth trying. I use the night light instead.

[Richer]

My plant tanks are all on timers, 12 hours a day.
My FO tanks don't have timers. The lights are only turned on when I'm feeding my fish. Its been like this since the very beginning, I've had no problems whatsoever. The ambient lighting in the rooms are enough to allow the fish to tell between night and day, turning on the tank lights tells them that food is coming =)

-Richer

[Anaxus]

Carpguy do you have a name or model number for the time? I couldn't find any on home depots or lowes website. Closest thing I could find was this http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=133964-1443-12879 not sure if that will work though

[carpguy]

Anaxus,
Thats what I'm using. I have one made by Westek and another by Intermatic but they're all pretty much the same, the main variables being the number of settings you can make and the presence of a grounding slot/prong (which I think is a good idea on an aquarium, but check your lamp to see if you need one).

You plug the timer into an outlet or powerstrip and then the lamp into the timer. You set the thing to the current time (not super accurate) and then insert pins (the red and blue things) to set the on and off times. The face of the clock turns. The pins flip a little switch as they pass turning the lights on and off. This switch is also accesible from the side so you can override the timer and turn it on or off at any time.

My main lights turn on and off once a day, and are grounded. The night light turns on and off twice a day for dawn and sunset. Sunset extends for several hours so I can see the fish in the evening. That lamp is ungrounded.

Richer's comments make good sense to me. If my particular tank were fish only I think I would still light it on a timer, but the room its in doesn't get a whole lot of light during the day. In a brighter room I'd probably let ambient do its thing. For fish only, I think the lighting issue is much less critical and boils down to personal preference and specific conditions.

[superstein61]

I agree with Richer - in a planted tank, I would have lights on a timer between 9 and 12 hours per day. In fish only, I leave lights off and turn them on as a signal during feeding time