Lighting Regime

[dayzofspeed]

i was wondering about the timing of switching my lights on and off, presently when i get up in the morning i am switching my lights on to feed my fish, the lights stay on for approx 1 hr until i go to work. once i come home from work in the afternoon i put them back on again until bedtime, is this ok or should i leave the lights on once i put them on in the morning or does it not matter as long as my plants are getting enough light each day, also would this on then off then on again cause the fish any problems and should the lighting hours be changed according to the seasons. at this time of year the room housing the tank is fairly dark during the day i dont want to confuse the fish (or the plants)...... looking forward to reading any advice, given many thanks

 

[Jamepsss]

i was wondering about the timing of switching my lights on and off, presently when i get up in the morning i am switching my lights on to feed my fish, the lights stay on for approx 1 hr until i go to work. once i come home from work in the afternoon i put them back on again until bedtime, is this ok or should i leave the lights on once i put them on in the morning or does it not matter as long as my plants are getting enough light each day, also would this on then off then on again cause the fish any problems and should the lighting hours be changed according to the seasons. at this time of year the room housing the tank is fairly dark during the day i dont want to confuse the fish (or the plants)...... looking forward to reading any advice, given many thanks

I have a basic set up and I always feed in the evening when I get in from work. The lights on mine don't come until 3pm and go off at 11pm (controlled by a timer). That gives 8 hours of light which I think is plenty. As you say, the room is pretty dark in the morning so going from pitch black to bright light so suddenly might stress the fish, I'm not sure.

 

[aaronnorth]

You won't confuse the fish/ plants. You can turn the lights on when you want and that is what they will percieve to be day as long as you keep it constant.
When you are turning them off/ on at different times or for short periods of times though, it can cause stress, but also the plants will grow much better with an uninterupted photoperiod.

I have mine on from about 1pm-9pm

Thanks, Aaron

 

[dayzofspeed]

thanks for the advice guys, i have a timer that was being used previously I think I'll set it up again, although I think I may miss not watching the fish in the morning while I have my cuppa and fag. Some people have told me 8 hours is long enough whereas I have also heard I should be giving a minimum of 10, anyone know if there is a definitive answer to this or should I take the average and go for 9 hours

 

[aaronnorth]

Anywhere between 8-10hrs.

Any more and you could encourage algae issues.

Some people run a 2hr siesta period, such as 4hr on, 2hr off, 4hr on.

You could do this if it helps to see them in the morning,

Thanks, Aaron

 

[dayzofspeed]

ok thanks for the input. will set the timer up again

 

[SuperColey1]

Anyone who suggests a minimum of 10 hours is needed doesn't know too much. 10 hours is fine if you can avoid the algae issues as is 12 hours.

The minimum plants need will be nearer 4 hours. Some plants will start to 'close up' after a few hours while the lights are still on. they have gotten what they need

I run 9 hours 2pm to 11pm. Was 8 hours while I was working but these days I get bored waiting for 3pm and added the extra hour 2 years ago. I also have the moonlights on for all the dark period so I have 24 hour visibility.

AC

 

[dayzofspeed]

thanks for the info supercoley I have been wondering about the moonlight myself, I can only assume that this will be beneficial to the fish as its more natural than a total blackout

 

[SuperColey1]

thanks for the info supercoley I have been wondering about the moonlight myself, I can only assume that this will be beneficial to the fish as its more natural than a total blackout

I wouldn't think it matters much to the fish. They may live in waters that are shaded. In daylight they get the sun at 6500K (daylight shaded) and nightime hardly any light if any.

If unshaded then sunlight is 5500K and they will get some moonlight.

More of an extra for the viewer really. Fish behaviour is different in my tank through the day because I have a staggered sunrise/sunset with the main lighting.

I get different types of behaviour throughout the day dependent on the stage the lighting is at.

For example towards the end of the photoperiod when only the end series is on (sunset) the Rasboras start to move into their 'pecking order' formation. This will go on through the night with the females staying put in the left rear where there is no light in the sunset stage, while the alpha male holds the right half which has the light. the other males will be in the left front and will compete with the alpha alternately straying onto the right hand side. These fish spawn in the morning (sunrise when the first series on the left comes on) so they spend the nighttime deciding who is gonna be lucky. lol

Similar to the Corys. they come to the front a few times in the daytime but sporadically. Under the moonlights they will all stay on the foreground all night long. They also spawn in the morning but a couple of hours before 'sunrise'.

That is the main reason for the 24/7 lighting in my eyes

AC

 

[dayzofspeed]

ok thanks again, does the type of bulb matter, coz i've just been doing some research and i am seeing quite a bit about diy leds etc or is a proper moonlight bulb better ie more natural light spectrum. i am thinking i may have to go down the led route as i cant see how i am going to fit either an extra tube or bulb into my light system whereas i could fit a strip of leds on one of the ends of the tank above the water line

 

[SuperColey1]

I just used the cold cathode kits off ebay. The ones that boy racers use in their cars. lol

They're only thin and you can 'stick' them anywhere there is a space. Mine are 12 inch long and the end blocks are 1cm wide.

Bought them 4 years ago and still going strong:

Forget the spectrum. Moonlights should be weak in output really. You don't want to be putting any real amount of light into the tank. Plants (and algae) will use blue light if they need to and therefore standard LEDS (not high power ones) or cold cathodes etc are ideal. Actual flouros or high power moonlighting will more than likely cause a major headache with algae.

AC

 

[dayzofspeed]

i've read about people using led christmas lights so i have been looking for some as its an appropriate time of year for them, the smallest set i have found contains 80 leds. I was thinking maybe i could set them into a sealed section of that white plastic conduit used for wall mounting electic cable, but i'm thinking 80 lights would be too many, would it be an easy job to shorten the chain of lights...... me and electrics dont really mix so i apologise if thats a stupid question

 

[SuperColey1]

Will be cheap to buy a proper LED strip off ebay. The ones that are a foot long etc.

With those standard 3/5mm LEDs I wouldn't be worrying about 'too many' You need in the thousands on a standard size tank to match flourescent tubes in terms of output.

AC

 

[dayzofspeed]

are the cathode bulbs run off 12v if they are meant for cars or do they come with a 240v to 12v transformer

 

[SuperColey1]

are the cathode bulbs run off 12v if they are meant for cars or do they come with a 240v to 12v transformer

They come with a little transformer box but they have molex plugs (like you get inside the computer.

So you just snip the wires before the molex connector and then get an old mobile phone charger (anything 5V or above) and twist the + and - wires together. Tape them up and its ready to go. The LED kits are the same.

This is a cold cathode kit like I use:
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-Blue-Interior-Neon-Tube-Light-12V-Car-Boat-RV-Van-/170558585720?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item27b6157b78

Or this is an LED option:
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Unversal-24-blue-LED-car-flexible-strip-neon-light-12V-/260655582126?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3cb0488bae

AC