Lights On Or Off?

[21rm]

not long having tropical fish tank, and wondering should i turn the lights off at night?
I have 3 areas in which the fish can go into darkness:
1: a hollowed out oramental log,
2: half shell of coconut which has java moss attached to outside
3: an oramental helmet which releases air bubbles.
my black tailed red shark and pleco love hiding in these places, but most the time they dont let any other fish
near them, esp the shark.
ive a couple areas also with alot of planting.
along with the shark and plec, ive 5 guppies, 7 platys, 1 p. gourami and 5 neon tetra

 

[Miss Wiggle]

if you leave the lights on 24/7 you'll be overun with algae in no time, fish also actually prefer to be in the darkness so you can stress them out by not prividing a regular day/night type cycle.

now it doesn't actually matter weather the lights are on in the day or the night but just have them on for 6-8 hours a day.

 

[drewry]

mine stay on for 8-10 hours a day

 

[chesterscot]

my light are on for about 10 hours a day
miss w ive left my lights on for the last 2 nights to help my angels out its working but will they be stressed?
scot

 

[21rm]

hey thanks for the replies, didnt realise it would build up the algae in tank.
ive a tank at the min with 30 platy fry, and always turn off the light on that at night and when not at home because its not a proper aquarium light and would be worried bout leavin it on 2 long.
would the constant lighting on have effected the fish's sleepin patterns?? heard contradicting stories on whether fish sleep or not so not sure if im right in sayin that

 

[ollyhtafc]

My White cloud mountain minnows sleep without a doubt. When i turn the light off they dart around like crazy then go into a 'trance' sometimes ending up drifting onto the filter looking dead but as soon as the lights come back on they're fine...which in my eyes counts as sleeping.

 

[waterdrop]

When you are beginning and just getting used to the whole hobby it might be that closer to 6 hours is better than closer to 10.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Mikaila31]

I don't think fish sleep like we do, we go unconscious when we sleep. I don't think fish do this, since they still move around a lot at night. But they seem very unaware of there environment when the lights are off. They rest at the surface or at the bottom usually. They will bump in things and don't react to much. I'm guessing this behavior is important or else they wouldn't do it. They also go very pale at night. When you turn on the lights they will be back to acting normal in about 10 minuets, yet it takes some of my tetras around 20 minuets to get all their color back.

 

[bturnnidge]

I have my lights on 10 hours a day and no problems

They come on at 10:00 turn off at 15:00 turn back on again at 17:00 and off at 22:00

No problems with algae at all and the fish do not seem stressed out at all!

 

[OldMan47]

For a planted tank, 8 to 10 hours a day is about right for the plants. For the sake of consistency, I run mine on timers. For a fish only tank the lights need not be turned on but I find it easier to see the fish with them on. The room lighting is enough for most fish's needs. When using a timer, I try to have the lights on by the time I get home and they go off about my bedtime. This means they are on when I am there to view the fish and long enough for the plants.

Edit: spelling

 

[21rm]

Hey thanks again for all the replies.
Turning on the lights this morning, I seen some of them acting really funny. some one earlier in this topic said the fish would bump into things, and they were doin exactly that LOL.
I became a proud daddy again over the weekend to another 5 platy fry. 2 more died, egg sacks were still attached.
bout 3 weeks ago i got 30 fry outta the tank. 3 of these were bigger than thhe rest, so obviously were there a bit longer and had gone unnoticed. Anyway, i was worried they could snack on the new ones in the fry tank, so i added these 3 larger ones back to the adult tank. they'e gettin on grand. One in particular has no bother in swimming with the big fish, and he, or she lol, is soo small compared to the rest. I was so proud yesterday seeing him swimming with them. The other 2 stay closer to the plnts in the tank.
Another question tho, I've 2 male and 3 female guppies, that havent bred yet. any ideas what could be the problem. they are in the same tank as the platys, and the platys so far have given my 35 fry, from 3 different birthings im sure. Im confused as Ive read that guppies are the easiest to breed. Would 3 females be enough to keep the 2 males appy, or would a couple more females give the current ones more of a break thus allowing them to deliver??

 

[bluemermaid]

Ikea have really cheap timers and I pop my tank on for 10 hours a day. Its all automated and hasstle free.

 

[OldMan47]

21rm, chances are good that your guppies are breeding. I have found that for guppies, they only have surviving fry when the stocking levels are a bit light but with no other changes there are lots of fry that survive when you stock lightly. I don't know if they produce less fry or just have less survivors when the stocking gets heavy but that is the pattern.

 

[Der]

ON the subject of lights, and without wanting to hijack this thread, I have a double light fitting on my Juwel 260 tank, which is second hand. I havent used it yet, but put two new light tubes in as recommended by the local aquarium shop. Now, one of the strips wont work. Its not the tubes as both will work in one side of the fitting,not the other.
Course, its a sealed unit so I cant go mucking about with the innards of the thing. Is it a common issue and is a new fitting the only answer?

 

[waterdrop]

re Der's question:

Assuming both tube positions use the same starter components, it sure sounds like a simple loose connection on the wiring of one of the tube positions. Too bad if you can't get in there in the light housing as this stuff is usually extremely simple and a query in the hardware section could help solve virtually any issue with these kinds of lights and their components.

~~waterdrop~~