For those of you that use timers on your tanks...

[gale]

I finally got a timer for my 20g. I am having it come on from 11:30 am until 3:30 pm and then from 7pm until 11 pm. Hmm that's only 8 hours. I guess I better add a half hour to each of those...

It doesn't get any natural light whatsoever. It's in a darkish room with no windows and no lights in it. Whoever built this house was probably a vampire and it was his daytime room.

 

[Mr Miagi]

Mine gets some natural light, so i put mine on from 8-1 with a two hour break then 3-7, a total of 9 hrs, but im too trying to reduce algae.

 

[CFC]

Since my tanks are unplanted i have my timers set for the lights to come on at around half a hour before i usually get in from work (in my case they are set for 2.30pm) and they go off again at 8pm so the nocturnals have a chance to wake up before i feed them.
On the weekends and days off work i just flick the lights on manually when i get up and turn them back to timer if im going out.

 

[Cavafish]

when i bought my timer I was told that 12 hours on and 12 hours off was approx the right amount of time as this is what the fish would experience in the wild. This can then be altered by a few hours if algae was a problem.
This kinda makes sense to me so is what I do - on at 1pm off at 11pm at the mo.
Surely having two 'days' ina day is a bit confusing for them??

 

[Angry_Platy]

Isn't the break in the light meant to resemble cloud cover to the fish, provided you have natural light in the room....

I am currently doing 3pm - 10.30pm everyday.....I was doing 6am to 9pm but had bad green algae. Now I get very little green algae but one of my tanks (in a badly lit part of the house) gets quite a bit of brown algae (too little light)...

I will be going a planted tank soon so will then adjust my tank to a siesta type thing

 

[Talisman]

Mine come on at 8am in the morn so they are ready to be fed when i get up for work, they go off at 12 noon, and back on at 2pm until 8pm.

I started to get alot of algae on the glass, and the break has cut this down.

Now i have long stringy green like grass growing off the leave edges of plants and some shells.

I know its off the orignial topic but what is this and is there anything i can do to get rid of it?

 

[CathyG]

10am to 1:30pm, then 4:30pm to 10pm. A total of nine hours. My tank is away from direct sunlight, but enough natural light reaches the tank to stop it being plunged into darkness during the lights out in the daytime.

 

[RZS]

Hi,

Speaking of timers... does it "shock" the fish when the lights go out, and they are suddenly surrounded by darkness (versus the gradual darkening of natural light)?

I turn mine on at 8am and shut them off at 3:30pm (so they can experience the darkening naturally).

Thanks....

 

[nomaddan]

Doesn't turning ther lights off then on again then off again mess with the fish. I would think their cycly would get prety screwy, especially the nocturnals? Or will they just adapt to it?

My lights come on about 10:30 am (1 hour befofe I come home from work) and go off at 10:30 pm (About the time I leave for work).