Ok to leave light on for 12 hours?

I put the light on in my tanks at 10 every morning, and put them off at 8 every night. My 15gall and Q tank is on a timer so I don't have to worry about putting the lights on and off, but my 7.5gal does not have a timer, and I have to switch it on and off my self.

I have only set it up during the summer holidays, so I have always been here to put the light on at 10 every morning. On September 6th I go back to school, and have to leave the house at 8 every morning to catch the bus. I will have to put the light on in my 7.5 gal before I go. Will it be OK to leave the light on in the 7.5gal from 8:00am - 8:00pm, or is this too long?

Thanks

Gwenz

 

If the lights are only for the growing live plant, anything over 6-8 hours will be fine
remember the sun doesn't shine on a plant for a full 12 hours out in nature

I'm only new to the fish scene but this goes for greenhouses and so on, so I believe its the same concept

a 24hour timer shouldn't be more then a few $$ from the shops, I seen them for about $3 (1ish pound)
I believe its best to find a Blue spectrum light as that is what plants grow from.
school science came in handy

 

I suppose it would be OK to leave the light on for 12 hours. I've heard live plants use light for only 8-10 hours, so if you leave the light on for longer than that, it will be useless for plants, but it won't hurt your fish at the same time. I usually leave the light on in my tanks for 10 hours, but it certainly happened that the light was left on for longer or shorter time than 10 hours. Nothing happened to my fish or my plants.

As for the light spectrum for a planted tank, I think the best spectrum is around 10,000K (which is a natural white light), rather than some blue or red spectrum. Too much of the blue spectrum may cause unwanted algal blooms.

 

Sorry about the light mishap then, like I said I wasn't sure for the tank, I'm only gogin on greenhouse and inside gardening I learnt from a mate.
it doesn't apply to tanks I see

 

Spandex, I am not an expert either, lol. I wouldn't know if blue spectrum is good for plants as I've never grown plants under blue spectrum. Maybe you're right. What I have said above, I've learned from readings and from plant geek - the people on this website know a great deal about aquarium lighting for planted tanks.

Here is some info on lighting in general (as well as on lighting best for planted tanks). This: is a picture showing spectra and their Kelvin temperatures. And this is an explanation of each spectrum range and what it's good for.

 

OK. The bulb is 11W fluorescant.

Maybe I'll turn the lights off earlier or something. :-\

Gwenz

 

Well, all I can say is that I made a mistake and got a 50/50 which put out half white and half blue white and got a whole tank of the worst algae I have ever seen. When I read about the ACTINIC (which is what that kind of bulb was called) bulbs they said they promote algae build up. On the other hand the tanks that I put the plain white light in have had very little algae and then only when the fish have been overfed for some reason or another (like when they have food they do not like). Just my experience.

Rose

 

It's the same here Rose. I have a natural white (a bit yellowish even) light over my 30 gallon tank, and NO algae there (partly also because my algae eater does a great job). I have some black brush algae on my driftwood though and the algae eater I have does not eat this type of algae. Over my 10 gallon tank, however, I have a light that has a hint of blue - and guess what - it has a LOT of green algae. I have to either scrape it off or let my algae eater in there to eat them. I've also read that actinic blue light does promote algal growth.

 

That is interesting as I wanted to get another slightly different coloured light as I just have a white light now which is what my LFS recommended me and I have little algae cept some browny slime algae I suppose build up on tank walls.

However back to Gwenz original Q, I wouldnt worry too much about how long the lights are on or off for, I am no expert but I have yet to get a timer for my light so do it myself and I literally get outta bed at whatever time (I work unsociable shifts as a lifeguard in summer so sometimes this is 5am, sometimes this is midday) and switch the light on and whenever I get home (normally between 4pm-6am!) I turn it off, the only time I ever go out of my way to turn it off is if I stay out all night in which case I don't want my light on for 24hours.
Either way my tank always gets more than 10 hours a day and my fish are absolutely fine, I also find it helps at night when I turn it off to keep my main room light on for a little while longer so the transition from light to dark is less severe for them.

Not sure if this helps, but don't stress about it! Have a good first day back at school, I don't have to go bk to college until the 11th woohoo!

Lucy

 

Thanks Lucy. I think I will just switch it on just before I leave to catch the bus, (8:00am), then switch it off at the same time (8:00pm).

Have a good first day back at school, I don't have to go bk to college until the 11th woohoo!

Lucy

Thanks. I'm not really looking forward to it though. :-\ Although I'm glad I am not in year 7 or year 12. They have to go back tomorrow (5th). Everyone else (including me) goes back on 6th, so it's not that bad. :-\ I hope they have sorted out our timetables this year. Last year they didn't finish them until 2 weeks into the start of the term, and they expected us to go to lessons even though we didn't know what lessons we had. It was really annoying. >

I hope you enjoy college. My sister is starting this year. She goes on 23rd September. It's going to be weird not having her at school with me. She's always been there for me. It's going to be really wierd. :-\

Thanks for the advise on the lighting. Maybe I'll be able to get a timer in the future, but for now I just have to do it myself.

Gwenz

 

Awesome, I also will get one sometime in the future.
College rocks- although I got it wrong, I have to go in on Friday as I am "deputy head girl" lol, grander than it sounds so have to go talk to the newbies about life and persuade them to come to our amazing parties!!
lol
Lucy

 

... I work unsociable shifts as a lifeguard in summer ...

Lucy, I love to swim. I actually was on a swimming team in HS and I've always wanted to get a lifeguard license, but never got around to getting one. Now, I'm afraid, it's too late as I haven't been swimming regularly since HS (I have continued to swim but not regularly enough to call my swimming a training). Nevertheless, I'll always keep swimming - I think it's the best sport on Earth!

 

For sure it is! I used to swom for my local club too and I loved then when it came round to getting a sensible job it was an obvious choice for me and it is an awesome job, good pay and lots and lots of lifeguard boys lol!!!!

I think I am a water baby in general I love most things to do with the ocean and any watersport... my favourite film is finding nemo lol! ;D

p.s... its never to late, get your lisence if you want it!

 

LOL, maybe that's also why we love fish so much? Heh And oh ... yes, LOTS of cute guys if one is a lifeguard! Lucky you, lol I remember, in HS, I liked guys who we swimmers best because they had the best-looking bodies, haha. There are actually various body types, according to the discipline of sport practiced. I noticed that swimmers, though they're athletic, they're more slender in body shape - which I like better. I actually don't like those "super-muscular" men ... it looks rather repulsing when a man is too muscular. But ... perhaps this is a topic for another forum, lol ;D

 

Yes I too am partial to "man swimmer shoullders" lol.

 

Gwenz

Maybe I'll be able to get a timer in the future,

Gwenz

I've got a timer now!! ;D

My mum bought it for me yesterday!!

Gwenz

 

Who ever is asking about the light situation, I wouldn't reccomend a high voltage light but stick to a standard colour aswel as a low voltage. High voltages are not good for they ruin the slime produced on fish, not only that, the fish don't like it. Oh and fortunate for men, we aren't sold for aquariums. Also don't get mixed up with the things you get told by people from the USA due to the way they measure in ppm and we measure in mg/litres. The tank setups are also different. I mean their advice is much appreciated, just make sure you convert things correctly lol.