On Or Off?

[mbeer21]

My family and I are going away for 4 days; would it be better to leave my 130L tank light on the whole time, or off?
There will be some natural light in the room during the day, mostly in the afternoon, so they wouldn't be in the dark the whole time, but it is a bit dull. There is one live plant in the tank. Algae growth isn't an issue if the light is always on; I have a bottomless-pit of a Bristlenose who won't allow that

 

[alexbinge]

In my opinion it doesnt really matter i know i have left mine on for 2 days before. There wont be any problems except the tank water may walm up slightly because off the light but this depends on how powerfull the light is. If you do leave it on i would put an ornoment thet does not let any light through and it will give the fish a bit of darkness if the want it

 

[fluttermoth]

Leave it off. The only reason we have lights in our tanks is for viewing and for the plants; the fish will be fine in just the ambient room light.

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Leave it off, as fluttermoth said, it's only for viewing and plants. If you leave it on, you could get an algea problem and it will cost you more in electric

 

[scotty]

you could also buy a timer switch,and you can have the lights on for a few hours a day.thats what i do when i go on holiday,but i have a heavily planted tank.i never get any problems with algae when i have them timed to come on for a few hours,but they are timed to come on when it gets dark outside

 

[Tizer]

i picked up a pack of four timer switches from homebase for about £10. They work a treat.

 

[willowstwin]

get a timer. I got one and the temperature rise problems I had initially have disappeared (I was turning mine on at 7am and not turning it off until about 9 - I was testing to see how the lights would affect the water temperature).

You can set it for a few hours, so your plants still have some light, but then it a) saves your electric, b) doesn't heat the water (and saves on evaporation, and c) stops algae problems, but if your "lesser-spotted-bottomless-pit fish" can cope then that probably won't be an issue haha.

 

[micko]

As already said, a timer is your best bet.
I've found the digital ones break quickly, I've had around 10 of them for the different tanks around the house at different times and they've all only lasted 6months. I prefer the old ones where you push the parts in, never had one break on me yet.

 

[holidayinn]

Timer switch, for me - you can see my tank thru the front door etched glass...so a timer switch for the evening can also but not in a big way help ward off potential thieves

 

[This Old Spouse]

While I'm home, I turn the lights on in the morning for an hour or so, then off during the day, then on again around dinnertime, off at bedtime.

When I turn the lights on, the fish anticipate being fed, since that's what usually happens. When I leave for a few days, I just leave the lights off because they aren't fed while I'm gone. I do have timers, but I don't want them to think they're going to be fed when the lights go on!

 

[mbeer21]

Ok thanks for the advice everyone Will be leaving the light off. (I suspect the neighbour who will be feeding them will turn the light on for the time it takes the fish to eat, of course). Hope they'll all be ok while I'm away heh.

 

[mbeer21]

I'm back, and I'm glad I left the light off... the tank water is now crystal clear. When I left it was a little hazy. Guess the time off did it good :3 Fish were a bit hungry when I got back (I guess my neighbour was a bit cautious about overfeeding them and so underfed them )

 

[CrazyAirborne]

glad to hear your fish are ok!

and thank goodness your neighbor would underfeed rather than overfeed! cuz overfeeding causes way more issues!!! since we typically overfeed anyways!

and seriously, timers are so cheap and easy and hassle free, once u use one, you'll wonder why u never picked one up before. and its good to have your routine more permanent.