# Lights on all day and night?



## avalanche333

I've been noticing the alge has been gowing faster then usual ever since I populated my 75 gallon tank with Cichlids (range from 0.5" - 2").

I started reading about ways to help keep this under control and seen I can limit the amount of light the tank gets.

I have always been under the impression the light should be on all night. Is this true or can I turn lighting off over night? Should this help reduce alge growth? Is having no lighting ok for the fish?


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## cjacob316

lighting should follow a natural daylight cycle at most, sometimes even shorter, dark is ok, some use blue led lights at night
but light should not be on 24/7 i use 12 hour cycles on some, shorter on tanks with higher light output


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## TangSteve

Umm, yes fish like the lights out.

I typically suggest the lights on for 8 to 10 hours per day but you can go as high as 14 hours with no ill effects.


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## cichlidpastor

But all that algae probably makes your pseudotropheus happy =D>

The way I've understood it is that light is more for us than the fish. The natural light in my dining room would probably be sufficient for my fish.


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## avalanche333

Thanks for the replies.
I'll be sure to give them lights out over night.
The room the tank is in has several large windows, so longs of natural daylight and the window faces late afternoon/evening sun.

I may just put lights on in late evening when I am typically in the rom then turn them out when I go to sleep.


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## Danzx6r

Why not have a look at this for some help:

Sunrise Sunset Length Dawn Dusk 
05:29 18:22 12:53 05:06 18:46

This is an average of sun rise & set from around Lake Malawi :fish:

Dan :thumb:


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## Raigon

I personally have a question - turning on the light may also be for heating purposes, but without a heater and using light alone, won't it ruin its circadian rhythm?


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## Neogenesis

Personally I don't even run full lights all day. I use some white LED strip lighting during "work" hours when no one is viewing the tank. "Low light no additional head induced into the tank", I only run full lights in the evening for 5 to 6 hours then back to led lights then dark all night. Fish seem to like it, they are reproducing like mad and it helps keep my algae in check, although growing plants now is impossible.

Scott


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## Danzx6r

Im coming off a marine tank I have had running for 4 years where the light was so crucial that it had to be right... it seems with a fish only tank, its more for us as viewers as you can imagine the naatural habitats will never be as bright as we are offering! Use a timer and maybe do something like 3-9pm in a room where natural light is also on offer! 8)


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## edouthirt

With fish only tanks... they can thrive perfectly happy with nothing more than ambient light from the room the tank is in, pretty much as long as there is enough light for them to see the food when it's feeding time. Assuming there are windows or you turn lights on for yourself to see in your house... that is plenty. The lights we add are simply for our viewing purposes.

I have all of my lights on timers and they come on from from approximately the time I get home from work in the evening and turn off approximately when i go to bed.

When I go out of town i turn all the lights off completely and close all the curtains and it stays pretty dark in my house. I have done this several times with no ill effects at all. In fact, I'd prefer the tanks to stay dark when I'm away as this slows down the activity of the fish and then of course their metabolism as well... and since I'm not there to feed them, it's better that way in my opinion.

And not to beat a dead horse... but I actually completely blacked out one of my tanks for a week straight using a black plastic garbage bag when I had a "green water" issue. When the time came to take the bag off and turn the lights back on, the fish were perfectly fine... a little groggy after the long nap perhaps, but that only lasted about 5 minutes.


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## Dj823cichild

I have my tanks in well lit areas with lots of light from the windows. I use that during the day and at 7pm to 10pm I use my timers for my tanks and it works out perfect for me. We all know fish need rest just like we do and they can't fall asleep that easy with the lights on. I noticed sometimes if I come in my den here when lights are all out the fish seem to wake up as soon as I turn on the lights saying hey we are sleeping here lol! :lol:


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## Oscar Madison

I have my lights on about 6 hours per day and moon lights for another six hours.

Use timers so you don't forget to turn them on/off.


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## redblufffishguy

Am I the only one seeing this, in the wild the sun sets and darkness happens. Why is there an assumption that one must leave the lights on all the time in an aquarium?

Fish sleep too, man, help them out with a little darkness


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## fmueller

I've read on a planted tank forum that plants can use light for about 8 hours per day, but algae can use light 24x7. So if you want to boost plant growth - assuming you have life plants - you want to have good quality light for about 8h (maybe 10h) but not much light for the rest of the time. This actually helps to keep down algae, because during those 8h the plants will gobble up a lot of nutrients, that the algae can no longer get to.

If you don't have plants, and you want to keep down algae, you want to have the lights on only when you view the tank. Fish pretty much don't care if the lights are on or off. Some of our fish come from such deep water that not much light ever gets to where they live (eg Frontosa), and a lot of South Americans live in such murky water (black water conditions) or muddy rivers that they also won't ever see much light in their natural habitat.


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## redblufffishguy

exactly!


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## Riceburner

I stick to nature as much as I can....has worked for millions of years...till humans came along. :lol:


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## brunosmith

I installed strip LED underwater lights for my tank and I am so excited about the results!


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## biglove

I have had to add thermal curtains in my home office to block out sunlight due to raging algae growth. It appears that my lights on my 125 gallon tank are not so much to blame(2 Coralife twin 36" fixtures) as was the sunlight.

Hope you find a happy medium.


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## Glaneon

redblufffishguy said:


> Why is there an assumption that one must leave the lights on all the time in an aquarium?


Funny, I've never ever heard that assumption voiced.

I was shocked to see this topic really.


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## Cromak

I keep mine on from 2pm until 11pm and have never had any algae on my tank whatsoever. I barely even get any on the rocks which kinda sucks because i would like some but for some reason it just doesn't seem to grow. My tank is also planeted with Various swords and grass.


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