How long can plants go without lights?

[cdr63corv]

Hello all. Do to a family emergency I will have to leave for about 4 days with No one to tend to my tanks. 2 have fluval plant lights with lights programed, so not worried about them. One I have no plants in so I will just leave the lights off. My other tank only has a couple plants and was wondering if they would be ok for 4 days without light. Both these tanks get very little natural light in the room that they are in. Thank you in advance.

 

[TClare]

They will be fine just for 4 days, no worries.

 

[cdr63corv]

Thank you for the reassurance

 

[86 ssinit]

4 days all should be fine.

 

[ruud]

You're telling me that plants need aquarium light???

 

[Leeman75]

You got good answers here, but I'll just add that if you were still concerned about it, or going away for longer, can just get a timer from you your local Walmart or hardware store and set it up to turn on and off automatically. I have all my tanks set up like that so that they have the consistent amount of light every day.

 

[TClare]

Actually I have kept spare Vallisneria, not even planted, floating in a tank that is not being used, just because I don't like throwing healthy plants away. No artificial light, just a little daylight, not much as the back of the tank is covered, no heater, no filter, nothing. They have kept alive and green for months, I recently gave some to my son's girlfriend for her axolotl tank and they are doing fine. Not sure if all plants would do so well in these conditions, but the Vals are what I always have too much of, along with water lettuce (which does get thrown away).

 

[cdr63corv]

Sad part is the tank I'm worried about has a currant serene light. It is supposed to be programmable, but for the life of me I can't get it to work. Sometimes technology evades me. Turning into the old guy who can't get the vcr to work lol

 

[86 ssinit]

Lol I’ve got 1 current light. Also programable. But it’s not 24/7. Just programable. As in you can set the intensity of the light for one setting all day. Probable the most expensive light I have. I had it on a Walmart timer. Current puts all the money into the box it comes in. Fixture is garbage. Thing even came with a remote control so you could spend all day changing intensity.

 

[ruud]

Thank you for the reassurance

Do you use artificial light for houseplants also?

 

[cdr63corv]

We have an underground house, buried into the side of a mini mountain. Cheap heating and cooling costs but not a lot of natural light.
Yes my Currant light has a remote I'm still trying to figure out, someday maybe

 

[ruud]

We have an underground house, buried into the side of a mini mountain.

That sounds great!

 

[MasterPython]

I left a the light off a planted tank for about 3 months once. The stem plants where mostly melted away while the crypts growth slowed and they looked scraggly. Moss took over.