mrrv

hello all,

we have a 20 gallon tank with 10 tiger barbs and a few live plants. The hood is for a 20 gallon but the light seems to be smaller than the hood, it took the same size bulb that our 10 gallon uses.

question is: how important is it to have the light on at a consistent time during the day? most of us are not home until after 5pm, so is it ok if we turn it on when we get home, at around 6 and then turn it off when we go to sleep at around 12-1 am? thanks fishlore!

Angela_96

I would get a timer. They have cheap timers at walmart for like 4$ that would do perfect. I have my planted tanks, reef, and mbuna set on timers. Then for "algae control" will cut the whole timer off for a couple days a week in my mbuna tanks. The extra hours of daylight seems to cause algae in my tanks to blossom.

It gives the fish a reg sceduale of light/dark which is healthy for them. Plus the plants need the light as well.

aquarist48

I use timers as well. 12 hours of light every day at the same time. I have the timers set so the lights go off during the hottest part of the day.