Need advice on light management for my aquarium.

[Helder]

Hi all! I am new to the world of fish keeping. I have a 35 gallon tank, with black widow tetras, gold tetras, cardinals and I have introduced 2 clown loaches just today. Every thing seems to be going well, but I am unsure on how I should run my lights. I have 2 x 3W LEDs, one on each side of my tank, which offers pretty good lighting for the whole tank. I have been running these lights on all day and I also keep them on through the night, as they are very energy efficient. They have 3 light settings: 1 is the brightest, with all white and blue LEDs on, 2 is medium, which switches off the blue LEDs and 3, which is just the blue LED's. Setting number 3 makes the tank quite dark, which makes the fish a lot more active, (stress or excitement??), so I generally keep them on setting 1.
Should I keep the lights on all the time, or is it recommended the lights be switched off during certain intervals of the day? I have run the tank with the lights on for nearly a year, but I was wondering if I am doing the right thing...
Any help and advice is much appreciated!

Regards
Helder

 

[jams]

I have been running these lights on all day and I also keep them on through the night, as they are very energy efficient.

Depends, on if growing plants or if your getting algae. But 24 hours on, is far too long. It’s best to turn off your aquarium lights at night so the fish can rest. Most of my tanks are planted and I have found 4 hours on 2 hours off and 4 hours on then off the remaining time. I use mechanical timers which can be picked up for around $5.

Good Luck!

 

[Helder]

Depends, on if growing plants or if your getting algae. But 24 hours on, is far too long. It’s best to turn off your aquarium lights at night so the fish can rest. Most of my tanks are planted and I have found 4 hours on 2 hours off and 4 hours on then off the remaining time. I use mechanical timers which can be picked up for around $5.

Good Luck!

Thanks for the reply and the advice, Jams. I'll look into the mechanical timers you mentioned. I do have a planted tank. My initial intention was to have only the blue lights on at night, which darkens the tank quite a lot, but I got a bit alarmed when I saw all the fish activity. Wasn't sure if they were stressed from the lack of light and they seemed to sort of chase each other around the tank, so I opted to keep the lights on. I'll probably have another try and see how things pan out.

Regards
Helder

 

[Essjay]

Fish do require a period of several hours total darkness in every 24. The blue light should not be left on all night, but it's OK to use it for an hour or so before and after the main lights are on as a dawn and dusk effect.



As a side issue - clown loaches are highly social shoaling fish which need to be in a group of at least 6. They are also large growing fish and need a very large tank. They do grow slowly so you have time to upgrade, but you do need more of them asap. But if you can't upgrade to a tank at least 180 cm/6 feet long, I would return them to the shop.
Google 'marge the clown loach' to see what I mean!

 

[Fishiemang]

White by day, blue at night.

Flip 'em white when ya get up, and flip them blue before bed and you'll be alright.

 

[Essjay]

But not ALL night. Fish must have a few hours total darkness.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Fish require a period of total darkness for their circadian rhythm.
See The Power of Balance and Lighting: How it Affects Freshwater Fish.

 

[Helder]

Fish do require a period of several hours total darkness in every 24. The blue light should not be left on all night, but it's OK to use it for an hour or so before and after the main lights are on as a dawn and dusk effect.



As a side issue - clown loaches are highly social shoaling fish which need to be in a group of at least 6. They are also large growing fish and need a very large tank. They do grow slowly so you have time to upgrade, but you do need more of them asap. But if you can't upgrade to a tank at least 180 cm/6 feet long, I would return them to the shop.
Google 'marge the clown loach' to see what I mean!

Thanks for the reply and advice, Essjay. Maybe I can get the lights working on timers as suggested by Jams. I got the clown loaches because of a ramshorn snail infestation. I was told that they would help in controlling or eradicating the snails. There were literally hundreds! I had to redo the tank from scratch and I thought that a couple of these guys in there would be good insurance against further trouble.

Its great to see so many replies! I really do appreciate the help.

Regards
Helder

 

[Helder]

Fish require a period of total darkness for their circadian rhythm.
See The Power of Balance and Lighting: How it Affects Freshwater Fish.

Thank you for the reply. And thanks for the links, Lots of reading to do, I see.

 

[Essjay]

Timers are well worth it.

Fish 'expect' the light to be on and off at the same time every day and using timers provides this. The room should also be in daylight or electric light for half an hour before the tank lights turn on, and half an hour after the tank lights turn off to allow the fish's eyes time to adjust.



Snail populations increase whn they have plenty food. Making sure you are not over feeding the fish helps keep snail numbers down. And cleaning the bottom of the tank thoroughly to remove anything they can eat.

 

[Helder]

Timers are well worth it.

Fish 'expect' the light to be on and off at the same time every day and using timers provides this. The room should also be in daylight or electric light for half an hour before the tank lights turn on, and half an hour after the tank lights turn off to allow the fish's eyes time to adjust.



Snail populations increase whn they have plenty food. Making sure you are not over feeding the fish helps keep snail numbers down. And cleaning the bottom of the tank thoroughly to remove anything they can eat.

Hi Essjay,
I'm having an issue with the clown loaches. When I brought them home yesterday, They were swimming around the tank and staying mainly to the bottom of the tank. Since last night, they have gone into the upper left and right corners of the tank, where the heaters are. I thought maybe they were cold and that the water wasn't at the right temperature, so I upped it to 28 degrees Celsius. I also reduced the flow from the water filter. I have a Fluval 207. None of what I have tried has worked and they are still in the corners. I'm concerned that there is something wrong? Any advice?

 

[Essjay]

They are stressed - stressed because they are new to the tank and stressed because there's only two of them.
It takes some fish a while to settle into a tank, and if they are also stressed because there aren't enough of them they'll take a lot longer to settle. Unless you intend buying a tank at least 6 feet long in the next couple of years, I would take them back to the store.

 

[Helder]

They are stressed - stressed because they are new to the tank and stressed because there's only two of them.
It takes some fish a while to settle into a tank, and if they are also stressed because there aren't enough of them they'll take a lot longer to settle. Unless you intend buying a tank at least 6 feet long in the next couple of years, I would take them back to the store.

Thanks for that. Please see photo below. I'll keep an eye on them for next couple of days and I'll return them if things don't change.

 

[Fishiemang]

So....when the moon is out and bright, shining down on the water surface...the fish are losing.sleep?

Dunno if ya guys know about it but the blue setting on most LED lighting worth it's.weight is very dim. It makes the water actually look as though the moon is up.

The Aquasky is actually really good. You can do cloud cover settings for night or day...yadda yadda....is a.great light.

I've always ran a blue moonlight in every tank since.forever. The fish don't mind.

 

[Colin_T]

Fish and plants need at least 8 hours of rest every night. You can have the lights on for a maximum of 16 hours per day but they must be off for 8 hours at night. This includes blue lights. Turn them off at night.

LIGHTING TIMES
Most aquarium plants like a bit of light and if you only have the light on for a couple of hours a day, they struggle. If the light doesn't have a high enough wattage they also struggle. Try having the tank lights on for 10-12 hours a day.

If you get lots of green algae then reduce the light by an hour a day and monitor the algae over the next 2 weeks.
If you don't get any green algae on the glass then increase the lighting period by an hour and monitor it.
If you get a small amount of algae then the lighting time is about right.

Some plants will close their leaves up when they have had sufficient light. Ambulia, Hygrophilas and a few others close their top set of leaves first, then the next set and so on down the stem. When you see this happening, wait an hour after the leaves have closed up against the stem and then turn lights off.

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TWO LIGHT UNITS
If you have two light units on the tank, put them on timers and have one come on first, then an hour later the second light can come on. It will be less stressful for the fish.

In the evening, turn the first light off and wait an hour, then have the second light go out.

If the lights have a low, medium and high intensity setting, have them on low in the morning, then increase it to medium after a couple of hours, and then high for the main part of the day. In the evening, reverse this and have the medium setting for a few hours, then low. Then turn the lights off.

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TURNING LIGHTS ON AND OFF
Stress from tank lights coming on when the room is dark can be an issue. Fish don't have eyelids and don't tolerate going from complete dark to bright light (or vice versa) instantly.

In the morning open the curtains or turn the room light on at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the tank light on. This will reduce the stress on the fish and they won't go from a dark tank to a bright tank instantly.

At night turn the room light on and then turn the tank light off. Wait at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the room light out. This allows the fish to settle down for the night instead of going from a brightly lit tank to complete darkness instantly.

Try to have the lights on at the same time each day.