Plug in timer

[Lcc86]

Does anybody use a timer such as the one in the link below for their tank? Thinking about getting one so that I don't have to worry about the lights being on for too long if I have a long day at work, for example.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07Z942YWS/?coliid=I2BB7KFQLCWGLO&colid=1PMAYG02THCL0&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it

This is the tank I have, the light is built into the lid but I can't see anywhere on the page where it says what kind of light it is other than that it is LED (not helpful!).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07DXZTKLH?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I've had the tank for a couple of months so there's nothing wrong with the standard light and I'd rather not replace it unless I found one that would clip into the lid in the same way that the standard one does, which is why I thought maybe a plug in timer might be a solution.

 

[Essjay]

Any plug in timer would work, it doesn't need to be a smart plug - that's assuming the light is on it's own flex. Some tanks have everything wired on the same plug, light, heater and filter.

If the is the same tank as yours, the light specs are on this site

Diversa 112 Litre Fish Tank with LED Lid

Stylish 112L fish tank with LED lid, perfect for home aquarium enthusiasts. Offers ample space for diverse aquatic life and enhances room aesthetics.

mbstore.uk

 

[Lcc86]

Any plug in timer would work, it doesn't need to be a smart plug - that's assuming the light is on it's own flex. Some tanks have everything wired on the same plug, light, heater and filter.

If the is the same tank as yours, the light specs are on this site

Diversa 112 Litre Fish Tank with LED Lid

Stylish 112L fish tank with LED lid, perfect for home aquarium enthusiasts. Offers ample space for diverse aquatic life and enhances room aesthetics.

mbstore.uk

Light, heater, filter are all separate otherwise I wouldn't consider. That is the same one, thanks for this information!

I see a lot of people on here who have timed lights built into the lights themselves rather than the plug timer and wondered what the benefits/drawbacks of each might be, or if it's much of a muchness and I'm overthinking it!

 

[Essjay]

The lights with built in timers often have remotes or apps to control the different colours of the spectrum and/or the intensity of light. For example, starting at 10% power increasing to 100% then at the end of the light period dropping to 10% again before switching off. Or the amount of red or blue can be altered at different times of day.
The plug in ones can obviously only turn the lights on and off.


Whichever type, the important thing is that the lights are on for the same length of time at the same time every day. And the room should be in daylight or the room light on half an hour before the tank lights turn on and half an hour after they turn off. This is so the fish don't go from total darkness to bright light, and bright light to total darkness. The room light/daylight allows a sort of dawn and dusk effect for the fish's eyes to adjust.

 

[seangee]

If you can confirm the fitment you may want to try these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cyrank-Aquarium-Controller-Intelligent-Accesories/dp/B0B15HS736 I have the Nicrew branded ones
They have 2 benefits:

• Sunrise sunset ramp up/down
• You can control the intensity of LEDs - very often the LEDs supplied with a tank are too bright for the usage (at least mine were), so its useful being able to controlthe intensity as well as the duration

 

[Lcc86]

Thanks both for your input, I'll have a look into that controller as that would probably be preferable, at the moment mine is just a straight on/off light. I'm lucky that the room gets lots of natural light so they get some daylight either side but that will be more of an issue in winter when it gets dark by 4pm, I think a controller would be a good idea.

 

[Byron]

My article on how light affects fish may be of interest. It expands on what the members above have mentioned.

Contact Support

 

[gwand]

My article on how light affects fish may be of interest. It expands on what the members above have mentioned.

Contact Support

Thanks for sharing your article. I found it very helpful.

 

[sharkweek178]

Light, heater, filter are all separate otherwise I wouldn't consider. That is the same one, thanks for this information!

I see a lot of people on here who have timed lights built into the lights themselves rather than the plug timer and wondered what the benefits/drawbacks of each might be, or if it's much of a muchness and I'm overthinking it!

I've used both. The plug in timer is good because fish have circadian rhythms like we do. They need consistent times of light and darkness. Personally, I could never remember to manually turn the lights on and off the same time every day.
Now something to remember is that fish don't have eyelids. Abruptly going from dark to light, or vice versa, can be very stressful for them. So however the lights come on and off, make sure there is some ambient light on the room, before and after turning the lights on or off for at least a half hour either way.
Lights with a built in timer give you the same advantage of consistency and then some. Many allow you to set different light intensities throughout the day. So the solution of gradually going from dark to light (and vice versa) is built in. My lights turn on at 20% and work their way up to 50%. (Full intensity would be much too bright for the fish. That's for high tech aquascaping). And then going back down and ending the day at 20% before shutting off. Less stress for the fish.
And also being able to control the intensity is also a great way to deal with algae. If you start to see it, you can set the lights to be a little lower.
All this is to say that a timer is good but lights with built in customizable time are better.

 

[Lcc86]

I've used both. The plug in timer is good because fish have circadian rhythms like we do. They need consistent times of light and darkness. Personally, I could never remember to manually turn the lights on and off the same time every day.
Now something to remember is that fish don't have eyelids. Abruptly going from dark to light, or vice versa, can be very stressful for them. So however the lights come on and off, make sure there is some ambient light on the room, before and after turning the lights on or off for at least a half hour either way.
Lights with a built in timer give you the same advantage of consistency and then some. Many allow you to set different light intensities throughout the day. So the solution of gradually going from dark to light (and vice versa) is built in. My lights turn on at 20% and work their way up to 50%. (Full intensity would be much too bright for the fish. That's for high tech aquascaping). And then going back down and ending the day at 20% before shutting off. Less stress for the fish.
And also being able to control the intensity is also a great way to deal with algae. If you start to see it, you can set the lights to be a little lower.
All this is to say that a timer is good but lights with built in customizable time are better.

Thanks, I think I'm going to get a plug in timer for now and then come winter time have a look for a new light with programmable settings on it. At the moment when I leave for work I turn the light on then turn it off pretty much as soon as I get in, would be nice to set it say an hour later so I at least get to enjoy the fish a little when I come home!

 

[raylove]

I have another light in the room which I can put a timer on. If I'm going to be out when the tank lights go off I set the room lamp to come on just before.

 

[Essjay]

When you get the timer, adjust the 'on' and 'off' times gradually. Put them back say half an hour for a week, then another half hour for a week, and so on till they are at the times you want.
My timers have a function to change between summer and winter times on the 'clock' but I never use it. For me, the lights turn on and off an hour later in summer than in winter but for the fish they don't change.


My shrimp tank is in the kitchen, so during winter the room light is on till we go to bed.
The main tank in the dining room has 3 lights - 2 tank-long LED tubes and one tiny strip with just 4 LEDs. They are all on different timers. One long one turns on first, then half an hour later the second turns on. At the other end, the first one turns off then half an hour later the second turns off. A few minutes before the second turns off, the tiny one turns on for 40 minutes. When the second long one turns off, the fish calmly swim to the end of the tank with the tiny light.

 

[Byron]

I had a similar plan. Being retired and thus home during most of the day, my fish tank lights in the fish room came on at 120 am and turned off at 5 pm in summer, and obviously it was daylight at both ends in the summer. In winter, I did not adjust for daylight savings, so the tank lights came on at what was 9 am and turned off at 4 pm. It was still daylight then, though dark by 4.30 but that was enough.

When I was working, the tank lights came on during the morning in daylight, and went off in the evening at 8 pm, so I could spend some time observing the tanks. A room light on another timer came on about 10 minutes before 8 pm, and remained on for an hour. In both cases, the ambient room light was sufficient to function as dawn and dusk, and the light coming on or going off never bothered the fish. there was no sudden panic swimming, crashing into the glass or jumping, as there was once when the tank light went off after dark.

Of course this is all easy to do in a dedicated fish room, because there is no extraneous activity requiring light in the evening and so forth. But you can do the best you can. The main thing is to have ambient room light when the tank light comes on and goes off.