# Light question - timing



## covertune (Aug 10, 2012)

Chatting with a friend last night he mentioned that a tank should only be getting 8-9hrs of light per day.. I had read that it should be 10-12hrs which is more like what I've been doing. Which is it?

Also, I read that having the lights go off and it suddenly be pitch dark can be alarming for the fish, is this true? And, do they need any light over night? The room the tank is in goes completely black when the lights are out. If so, I'll have to find a way to rig a little night light or something, haha.


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## AdobeOtoCat (Dec 10, 2011)

depends on what kind of lights you have ( its distance from the water) and what kind of fish you have. generally I have my cree led lights on for 7 hours as i find that the algae growth will be limited with this time. discus a freshwater fish prefers light 24/7 meaning nightlights are needed for them not to be spooked. Saltwater tanks generally have moonlights as well. It is also true that fish will be spooked as the lights go from complete darkness to sudden light and vice versa. so for this reason,i have my lights turn on after the sun has risen for a while (10am) and shuts off at (5pm). lastly no fish tank should be exposed to direct sunlight as this would give your tank too much light.


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## AdobeOtoCat (Dec 10, 2011)

the members here have provided a great guide to lighting that can be found here
http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13
Basic Guide To Lighting


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

I use the 3 bulb Odyssea I bought from Canadian Aquatics with the following light periods on my 22gal: 6.5 hours at ~4Watt/Gallon; 3 hours at ~2Watt/Gallon. In that tank I do have plants that need a lot of light. It depends on your plants and how much light you want to give them. On my 20 gal for a while I had my lights on at 3Watt/Gallon from around the time I get out of bed (so I can enjoy my tanks of course!) at 7:00am to 8:00pm. I had a serious case of algae so it was probably too much. Things have been much better now that I'm around the 9-10 hour photoperiod. My 10 gallon uses 2 CFLs generating about 4Watt/Gallon, way too much for what's in there. So, I only have the lights on for 8 hours.


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

To stagger lighting to simulate morning, afternoon, evening for a 10gallon. I've seen some people use 2 desk lamps with CFLs and 2 timers. I'd go that route too but I am a bit lazy and just want to use the hood my tank came with.

In the planted section I've made a thread about what I use for lighting my 10 gallon.


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## covertune (Aug 10, 2012)

Ok, so I'm going to put the tank on a timer, and thinking I'll get some blue LEDs to come on when the white ones go off. The trick will be to find something that's dim enough that I can still sleep! lol The tank has a "night light" feature itself, but the switch is a slider on the top of the hood, so that has to be done manually and I'd rather have things on a timer so it's consistent.


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Take a picture when you have your lights set up. I'd love to see how you use the blue LEDs


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