How important is light cycle?

Bruce Leyland-Jones said:

I've been running a Fluval 'Aquasky' since early July and I'm very happy with it.
To be sure, it has more than enough gimmicks to please the geeks amongst us, but it also has a lot to cater for those of us who want to stretch our gardening skills.
I do appreciate, as will the fish, the gradual 'sunrise' and 'sunset' settings.
I'm not so sure about the need for a 'Twilight', but then all of my fish, including my Bristlenose, are active all day. It is good to see my pencilfish in their pyjamas, though.
That said, I currently have no algae issues, so will keep it.

I've more recently set up another tank, this time with Kuhli loach and, whilst these are also casually active during the day, I've noticed they remain active during 'Twilight' and I think I'm seeing more social interaction. I'm likely to be adding some shrimp and I would suspect these would become more active in 'Twilight', when the rest of the fish are winding down for their snooze.

Just a couple of points...be sure to include a good period of total darkness, as this is beneficial for fish and keep an eye on the algae growth. I used a Plant Boost setting and it did exactly what it said it would do...it appeared to boost ALL plant life.

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JennySolano said:

I have one of those now. Arrived a few days ago. So far I am not overly impressed, but it may grow on me. Before I had 2 LEDs, a dimmer one that came with tank & another $42 one from Amazon. Used them as sunrise/sunset , along with a table lamp. The Fulval seems to automate the process. Need to watch the videos. Don’t understand the ”dynamic effect.” Sounds more like a lightshow for us & nothing the fish need. I can’t get it running anyway from this ipad.

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• To begin with, did you download the FluvalSmart app?
• Yes...the Fluval automates the process, but you can also set the actual duration of 'sunrise' and 'sunset' and 'Night'. My sunrise lasts an hour, but my sunset takes two, so I can enjoy any dusk activities from shrimp or kuhlis, (even though both are active during the day, some do get more rambunctious during 'dusk'.
• I agree that the 'dynamic' effects are mere gimmicks, although I might yet discover that some fish breed in thunderstorms, or some such gubbins.
• I also appreciate the ability to reconfigure the spectrum of the light. Whilst I appreciate the pre-set spectra, I'm trying to learn more about plant growth for different plants and their relative spectra. I don't need algae control, but algae will also be a potential issue, when encouraging the plants to grow.

itiwhetu said:

Blue light plays no part in a fresh water aquarium. All the light needs to be warm. Red, yellow. and white spectrum.
How many hours of full strength light do you give your tanks each day.

Remember also that light has to be a constant, so it needs to be on a timer. The same amount of light each day.

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Bruce Leyland-Jones said:

Like the 'Dynamic' features, the blue light is for fishkeepers and gives a nice view for those wishing to view more nocturnal activities.
The mistake some make is leaving that blue on all night...this is a no-no, 'cos fish need a healthy period of total darkness for sleep.

I'll disagree with your last sentence, however.
Natural light is never, ever constant.

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itiwhetu said:

The problem with fish keeping is that unless we have some constants we end up chasing our tails. Light is one thing we can make a constant. Once we do that then we can concentrate on all the other variables.

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Bruce Leyland-Jones said:

Whilst I take your point, I believe that's for the ease of fishkeeping.
There's lashings of evidence out there in support of varied conditions making for a more stimulated and, subsequently, healthy animal.

I suppose that the temptation to just play with yet another gadget can distract from the basics of aquarium care, but once those are taken care of...
As long as not of the experimental fixing of lighting sequences and so forth have a negative impact on the fish and other residents.
For example, I appreciate the gradual sunrise and sunset, rather than just switching everything on, full glare and then off...total black. Then they throw in a 'Thunderstorm' effect or two, with lightning!
I'd like to think that the Boffins at Fluval are aware of what these effects have on fish and that none of them are detrimental.

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itiwhetu said:

This is my old school training. Set it up and leave it alone. Maybe one of the reasons that I have no problem growing plants and don't need fertilizers

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Bruce Leyland-Jones said:

Oh...and the green light is for fishkeeper's aesthetic tastes only.

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JennySolano said:

Of course I downloaded the app! It would not have worked at all or connected to Blutooth.

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JennySolano said:

No interest in the special effects, but I’d like to see them in a vid.

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JennySolano said:

Do you know of any plants with very low light requirements? The axies don’t like light. At all.

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JennySolano said:

Tank in cool room, most blinds drawn(but has skylights) no LED strip.
So the plants would be at low water temps (60-65) and poor lighting.
Am I stuck with silk plants?

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noobfish said:

Green light is not just for aesthetics. Green is very much in the spectrum used by plants and will promote growth, possibly as much as red light. Look outside at all the green around in our world. That green light would be reflected in most fish's natural environment as well.

Here's an example of the lighting program I'm running. I use white with green the first part of the day, then fade out the green and bring up the red in the evening. Thinking behind this is that skies are often orangish red in the evenings and at sunset, so trying to replicate that color cycle. The white comes down mid-day as this allows me to leave the lights on longer without an algae outbreak and no one is home during that time anyway.

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I keep blue very low throughout the day since it has no value other than bringing out some color in the fishes. And I have a 25min period of only slight blue after sunset just to watch them wind down. Though at the first sign of algae that will be gone.

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wasmewasntit said:

One of my pet hates are the lights supplied with an aquarium as a part of the kit. Where in the world does the night stop and daylight start at the flick of a switch and who has 100% bright cloudless skies all day, every day? Its enough to give the poor hooligans a migraine.

So lights that come with the aquarium end up in the cupboard and all 5 of my aquariums have 8 inch Nicrew MCR's.

Set on the lowest intensity (ie cloudy day), blue from 4am til 6am, purple from 6am til 7am (food time), whitish 7am til 2pm, purple 2pm til 3pm, blue 3pm til 5pm....then its lights out til 4am next morning when I get up.

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noobfish said:

Agreed on the sudden on/off. The fluval light is one of the best things I've added to my tank, IMO. Now I have a gradual ramp-up, 1.5hrs from off to full brightness, and 2hrs for sunset.

The only dynamic effect that I liked was the cloud effect. It really does simulate clouds partially blocking the sun, with the lights gently dimming slightly and coming back up. My problem was that to achieve this, along with lowering and raising the white levels, it raises the blue levels.

Do you not have algae issues with the amount/duration of blue light you run? If I ran mine that blue I would have algae everywhere. I know because I started with blue much higher and settled where I am after weeks and weeks of trial. Shame too because the blue really did bring out some nice colors in the fish.

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