Light Schedule

[groan]

I've been trying to decide what is the best time for the lights to come on on my tank with regeards to feediing tie and such. i thoguth of this over the weekend because it cam to my attention that I was feeding my fish at a different time on teh weekends comared to the week days! Bad to say the least.

I have my lights come on at about 1 PM and off at 1AM. this gives me tiem to enjoy them when I am home. I usually feed them at around 6PM when I get home from work and again around 10=11PM shortly before bed time.
On teh weekend I found myself feeding them shortly after the lights came on...I know I should wait till the same time but it was sort of a reaction to seeing the lights on and i hadnt fed them yet. my brain hadnt kicked in fully, i guess.

I am curious what you folks do (particularly the working folks who are not at home all day but even if youare, feel free to contribute!) and also how I might improve this

[kennyman]

My tanks are all on a central timer. Since they are in the same room I run a power cord to each light unit from a single Coralife powersupply with day/night modes. I feel the consistency of photoperiod is important and the timer allows for stability in the day/night cycle of my aquariums despite changes in my own schedule.

I will go months where I am out of the house by 6:00 am and gone for 12hr work days. And other times I sit here for weeks on end being a housemaid. But through it all I try to keep the photoperiod of my tanks consistant.

[beowulf]

I also keep mine on timers.  In my case, I go from 11am to 9pm with a morning and evening feeding.

[zippity]

with mine as long as no algae buildup, i put my lights on at 8am and shut them off around 10-11pm. I try to give a natural schedule of daylight which means in real life we get about 15 hours of light unless we are talking about the short winter months. I feed only once and that is shortly before bedtime which means around 10pm.

[PaleoFishGirl]

My lights are on a timer as well - on at 7am, off at 7pm.
I only feed once a day, during the week when the lights go on in the morning because I'm up, on the weekend whenever I get up

I'm sure your fish won't mind if you feed them on different schedules.  In the wild, they take food whenever they can get it and it's not a constant (but daylight hours are).

[bitterman]

My light is on a timer from 6:00am till 9:30 pm. I have longer hours of light because I only have 56 watts of light on 172 gallons of water. I feed 2 times a day morning and night.

[groan]

with you lighting the tank to match your real-life daylight hours (ex. 7-9) dont you miss being able to see them after 9? My problem is I am a bit of a night owl so i am down in the basement with the fish from about 8-11PM (after my pet human goes to bed). that's why I adjusted the hours to be 1-1 (in seeing that most of you have longer cycles, maybe i'll increase that a little)
I got this idea from ageofaquariums forum and thougth , Of course! why not adjust the time on the tank...it was like a light came on. (hehe)

[PaleoFishGirl]

Most of the fish you have in your aquarium get, in the wild, 12 hours of light per day.  That's what I try to emulate with my tanks.  It doesn't matter which 12 hours per day, as long as there is little to no influence of natural light.

[adam_ottawa]

I'll risk jacking this thread to ask a pertinent question:  what about providing a break in the light cycle?  I started doing this about 2 months ago when I had a serious algae bloom.  Now, my lights are on for 4 hours, off for 4 and on for 4.  Although, now I'm only providing 8 hours of light per day (my only plants are java ferns).

While I know providing the light break is controversial, what are your experiences with this?

If this opens up a whole new can of worms, I'll repost a new thread because I wouldn't mind discussing this.

[groan]

As teh thread owner, i permit the above post to be included in this conversation.

I think it's a good inclusion as if it proves beneficial to the health of the tank(which is sort of the point of this thread) it should be mentioned!

discuss.

[BigDaddy]

I'll ask a very simple question, does the sun set twice in the tropics during a 24 hour period?

A 12 hour light cycle doesn't cause algae blooms.  If you don't have a planted tank, or you don't want to try to fix the issue using other means, then a light siesta can keep algae at bay

[beowulf]

I actually think that a break does not really have a affect on the the fish.  At least it did not on my rams.  First time I bought a timer is was one that was more for security and it would turn on and off the light every 3-4 hrs or so.  Even with this the rams still breed.

[jgolden]

Wow, looking at this thread makes me question my light cycles....

I have moonlights turn on at 5:30AM, off at 7AM, back on from 7:45PM - 11PM, 2 x 18" (30watts total) on at 6:45AM, off at 8:15PM, 3 x 48" VHO on at 8AM, off at 7:30PM, and 2 additional 48" VHO on at 10:30AM, off at 4:30PM.

I think I was trying to simulate different light strengths through an average day...

[squeeker]

My tanks' lights come on at 8, off at noon, on at 4, off at 10.  My anubias is flowering, and the fish aren't complaining!

[sas]

Our lights aren't on a timer? I'm the timer on @7AM and off @7PM or so. The tank in the livingroom where the TV is stays on a little longer at times,( when the guys are watching their programs: I watch the fish ) Planted tanks stay on 12 hours and oscar tank is on 3 hours, off 6 hours and back on for another 3-4 hours. I feed once a day in the morning except the discus tank is fed twice a day and sometimes three times a day depending on what they are getting.

[Adam]

I have mine on at 10:30 am, off at 9:30 pm.  If you want to enjoy your nighttime viewing, order some moonlights.  I just did on ebay for $30 dollars, and it did it for 2 aquariums. 

http://cgi.ebay.ca/DUAL-12-ULTRA-BRIGHT-BLUE-COLD-CATHODE-LIGHT-CCFL-KIT_W0QQitemZ180061871318QQihZ008QQcategoryZ51064QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

$1.95 before shipping isn't too bad 

Adam

[beowulf]

I've been debating about that it is something I might do on my 65g community tank.

[adam_ottawa]

I have mine on at 10:30 am, off at 9:30 pm.  If you want to enjoy your nighttime viewing, order some moonlights.  I just did on ebay for $30 dollars, and it did it for 2 aquariums. 

http://cgi.ebay.ca/DUAL-12-ULTRA-BRIGHT-BLUE-COLD-CATHODE-LIGHT-CCFL-KIT_W0QQitemZ180061871318QQihZ008QQcategoryZ51064QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

$1.95 before shipping isn't too bad 

Adam

Interesting...I've been wanting moonlights for a long time but the commercial ones just seem a bit too expensive for me.  How do you plan to attach them to your tank?

[groan]

I'd love to see how these look! it's interesting since these are just standard PC mood lighting.

[Adam]

Interesting...I've been wanting moonlights for a long time but the commercial ones just seem a bit too expensive for me.  How do you plan to attach them to your tank?

There is a good article here: 

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_moonlight.php

I'm going to use a 9V, 1 Ampere converter, probably from some component store.  Maybe I'll get it so I can dim it if need be, or raise the intensity.  I'll mount them in my home depot strip lights, as in the article.  Some double sided tape, a small hole for the wires in the reflector, and poof. I can take pictures while I go along, provided someone is interested.  I'm not super-handy, but it is A LOT easier than what it seems like.  Something to remember for people like me who can't throw together a stand that looks/works better than a LFS stand/do much DIY.

I paid ~$30CND including shipping for 2 of the kits.  They include 2 12" elements, which will be just enough, and all the components...except the converter I believe.  One will go on my 75 gallon paludarium, the other on my 60 gallon high tanganyika.  They are in the mail, but should be arriving any day now.

I'll have them running constantly, on 30 minutes before the main lights go off, and 30 minutes after the main lights come on.  No huge breaks in lighting.

Adam