How long do I keep the light on?

[Richalds]

Ive got a 30g tank with some molly's/swordtails/angels. Now the thing my room (and the aquarium) is in the basement and my room specifically does not have ANY windows. So the fish never get any natural sunlight (the one good thing about this is I have almost zero algae).

Furthermore, at night time and during the day when I'm at school they are pretty much in complete darkness. I usually turn on the light at 5pm for feeding then leave it on till around 11pm when I go to bed.

I'm wondering if this is ok? Do they need a certain amount of light, even if its the fake hood light? and is it ok that they are in complete darkness 3/4 of the day?

Thanks!

[Abbeys_Mom]

I think the average is 12-14 hours a day. You could put the light on a timer for so they turn on and off (doesn't work for fluorescent). I would turn them on in the morning before you go to school and turn them off in the evening.

[Slinky_Bass]

I think the amount of light required varies from species to species, but for your fish I'd say what Abbeys_mom suggested is about right.

All fish require lighting, this is mostly in order for them to see (and for you to see them) to feed, and in some species certain lighting is needed in order to induce spawning.

As most aquarium fish come from tropical regions, naturally they are used to a fairly constant chunk of light each day, about 12 hours or so. What your fish are getting light-wise is about half of what they'd get in nature. While admittedly this does help keep algae down, perhaps your fish might be happier with more daylight hours so they could be more active and interactive with their environment.

Abbeys_mom: I don't know what kind of experience you've had with timers and flourescents, but I've got timers on both my tanks (which have multiple flourescent tubes) and they work like a charm. Either way, whether you get a timer or turn on the lights before you go to school and then off in the evening as Abbeys_mom suggested, I also suggest you give them more light, making sure you keep the on and off times constant.

[Abbeys_Mom]

I have a timer on my lizard tank, it turn on the heat lamp every morning, but I can't get it to work for my fluorescents because they need to be primed. I am sure there are new lights out there that would work with timers. I just can't get mine to go. I think I meant to put a "my" in that statement, but I am tired. I was up all night. Anyway, Timers are great and I wish I could put everything on a timer, then I wouldn't have to remember as many things...Fuzzy...zzzzzz...

[Slinky_Bass]

Lol, you're allowed to be tired, I am too for that matter. Right, thats it, I've had way more than 12 hours of light and I think it's time for bed too ZZzzzzZZ

[jeffs99dime]

I think the average is 12-14 hours a day. You could put the light on a timer for so they turn on and off (doesn't work for fluorescent). I would turn them on in the morning before you go to school and turn them off in the evening.


just to let you know, timers do work for flourescent fixtures. i have my flourescent on one timer and my blue l.e.d.s on another timer. please don't take this the wrong way.--jeff:ezpi_wink1:

[Lady Hobbs]

Some algae also grows in the dark but the others are right here, fish don't want to be in darkness all day and night. Even if you left a lamp on near the tank, they could see well enough to swim around.