How important is light cycle?

[FishHobby99]

I had been turning tank lights on around sunrise, currently 6:30 & turning off ~7PM, depending on if tank gets ambient ligh from widows etc.

Purchased a “Sunrise Sunset” programmable LED for the catfish, cichlid big tank. Using factory default setting. Light gradually comes up beginning at 6:30, in 15 minutes. Begins to dim at 7PM & goes into dark blue “twilight” stage until 11:30PM, then all lights out. This is said to approximate their natural habitat.

well, does it for these catfish & Cichlids ? Or am I simply

beautifying my room? Should I reduce the twilight stage?
Thank you.

 

[noobfish]

A gradual ramp up and ramp down of the light definitely benefits the fish. Just switching on and off of full brightness is startling. Think of waking up in the early morning and turning the room light on. It hurts... and we have eye lids.
I purchased an inline control for ramp up and down on my nano tank. And I use the aquasky for the main tank, which is programmable. I have that one starting at 8am and reaching peak brightness (65%) at 10:30am.

One thing of note, watch the blue light and look for fixtures that blue is adjustable. From my experience, blue promotes the most algae growth. On my main tank I had to turn the blue light all the way down to 4% before I got a handle on the algae vs plant growth.

 

[FishHobby99]

Thanks, good to know. Sure the blue is adjustable. Appears everything is.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

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.

 

[noobfish]

I've read some things here and there about running just blue after sunset as a twilight or moonlight. I'm not sure if this is really replicating natural conditions or just for those that like to view nocturnal activities. Can't imagine moonlight penetrating much more than a foot or two into a natural body of water. Even with a full moon once a month, how many nights is it obstructed by cloud cover and such.
That being said, I run 20min of twilight or moonlight directly after sunset and then it's lights out.

(@Bruce Leyland-Jones How much time have you spent fiddling with your light settings? I've moved to Pro mode and lose track of time messing with it!)

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I've read some things here and there about running just blue after sunset as a twilight or moonlight. I'm not sure if this is really replicating natural conditions or just for those that like to view nocturnal activities. Can't imagine moonlight penetrating much more than a foot or two into a natural body of water. Even with a full moon once a month, how many nights is it obstructed by cloud cover and such.
That being said, I run 20min of twilight or moonlight directly after sunset and then it's lights out.

Agreed...like a lot of the light, it's for our benefit or the plants. Fish don't really need artificial lighting.

(@Bruce Leyland-Jones How much time have you spent fiddling with your light settings? I've moved to Pro mode and lose track of time messing with it!)

Early on, I spent a lot of time simply playing, familiarising myself with what I could do. I suspect that some time in the future, when my tanks are well established and I'm feeling a little bored, I might look further into my plants and their needs for a specific spectrum. I the moment, as it all appears tickety-boo, I don't want to fix something that ain't broken.

I did dabble with the 'Dynamic' settings and toyed with the lightning storm effects. However, I realised that sudden, bright, lightning flashes would not necessarily be conducive to fish stress levels.

 

[noobfish]

I've been happy with mine so far, but like you stated it is a bit pricey. Like Bruce, I don't use the dynamic functions of lightning or clouds (they look cool, but don't see how they help or "enrich" the lives of the fish. I just adjust the light levels and timing to optimize plant growth without having algae.
Otherwise, the only real gimmick over other brands is the bluetooth app control. But even that has it's problems, like if power goes out the light doesn't turn back on when power is restored, you have to do it through the app. I think they missed the mark by making it bluetooth instead of wifi. If they had used wifi you could adjust the light (or turn back on) from anywhere. As is you have to be within range.
Maybe the additional cost also translates to longevity. I guess time will tell.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Was just going to check if it’s WiFi or Bluetooth. Mine is neither, has to be manually set from control panel on end of light strip. A hassle thus far. At this point world have paid more for the fluval, but sure mine will be ok once I figure it out & get away from the default settings.

I definitely enjoy being able to control it remotely.
Now I have two, I can control them both by using the app.
I take the point about the necessity to switch it on via the app, but I suppose I've got used to it. (There's an increasing number of similar apps, taking over the central heating and household lighting, for example).

 

[noobfish]

I definitely enjoy being able to control it remotely.

Not too remotely though. I lose it at about 28' away.

I do wish I could at least access my programming at any time. For example, I'd like to be able to make and/or adjust programs during down time at work. Then I could save them and export when at home in range of the light. Unless there's a way to do this that I haven't found, I can't even look at my current program without being connected to the light.

 

[noobfish]

Wish I had asked you or someone here before purchasing it, but don’t expect to make frequent changes & think it’ll be simple once I feel like playing again.

You can always get one for your next tank. Should only be about 4-6 months away!

 

[Byron]

To your question in the thread title...light schedule is very important for fish, crucial even. I have an article why, here:

Contact Support

The fishes' health depends partly on the light, intensity and duration, and having total darkness. All covered inn the article.

Be careful with the blue light. This has no benefit whatever for plants, and as someone mentioned it can induce problem algae.

 

[Byron]

wouldn’t needs be different for cave & bottom dwelling species?

No. All fish we maintain come from tropical waters where the daylight/night is basically consistent throughout the year, and whether the particular fish encoounters brighter light or not, the circadian rhythm still governs the fish's metabolism.

In that article I mentioned that the "expectation" of daylight and darkness even occurs in blind fish, because the cells are extremely light sensitive so being blind makes no difference.

do you think the factory default setting for my cave/bottom dwellers is not allowing sufficient total darkness? It’s doing the 4 hours dark blue twilight followed by 7 hours total darkness before a “sunrise.”

As noted in the article, a continuous period of total darkness is crucial, and seven hours will provide this.

My concern would be the "twilight" blue period, four hours is excessive.

 

[noobfish]

terrific article, byron, thanks. wouldn’t needs be different for cave & bottom dwelling species?

do you think the factory default setting for my cave/bottom dwellers is not allowing sufficient total darkness? It’s doing the 4 hours dark blue twilight followed by 7 hours total darkness before a “sunrise.”

I wouldn't go beyond 30-45min for twilight blue, if at all. At 4hrs I would guess you'd be seeing significant algae growth in less than a week. The fish don't need it and catfish are well adapted to moving in total darkness.

 

[Byron]

Sorry see you answered all. my bad

Not a problem. I think an hour in the am before bright tank light (the "daylight" to the fish and plants) and an hour after the bright "day" tank light is off.

 

[FishHobby99]

Not a problem. I think an hour in the am before bright tank light (the "daylight" to the fish and plants) and an hour after the bright "day" tank light is off.

Thanks! That’s what’s happening tonight & onwards