# Feeding and Lighting Schedule



## indian09 (Oct 27, 2008)

I am fairly new to Cichids and have had my tank up an running for about 3 weeks. The fish are doing great and very enjoyable and full of personality. The one issue I am having is coming up with an appropriate feeding/lighting schedule.

Currently I am turning on the lights at 7:45am and feeding, return from work between 5:30 and 6:00 and feeding and feeding again at 10pm and then turn of the lights. I realize that this is proabably too much light but I have been doing this to get in 3 feedings (all small, about 1 minute).

I am going to be getting a timer to regulate the timings (I have noticed that it take about 10 minutes for the fish to wake up). Assiming that I cut down the lighting to 12 hours 7:30 - 7:30, is two feedings adequate? Should I give them longer times to eat? I am afraid of overfeeding. Can I feed them without the lights on?

In my tank I have:
Melanochromis Auratus
Melanochromis vermivorus
Pseudotropheus estherae
Aulonocara maylandi
Syn. Euruptus (I think)

I appreciate the help


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## sjlchgo (Mar 2, 2008)

For the fish, the lighting kind of helps them determine seasons. 12 hours of light suggests to them it's summer. If you have plants you'll need this amount of lighting. I have night lights so I turn them on(7 pm ish) an hour before lights out(lights out about 8ish) and then they are turned off just before bed(about 11ish). I turn the night lights on at 6:30a and the full lights on at 7.


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## indian09 (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks for the reply.....Do you ever feed your fish during the night/lights off.?


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## sjlchgo (Mar 2, 2008)

I do because I have Plecos and Loaches both which are nocturnal.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Once daily feedings are plenty. If you want to do two (I would not even consider three) then set your light timer to turn on for a hour in the am, off during the day and on again for 4-6 hours in the evening when you want to view the tank.

With that feeding and lighting schedule, I predict algae, LOL!


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## indian09 (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks for the reply....I know it's a bit of a dumb question, but I have not been able to find alot of information on the subject.

The articles that I have read indicated that feeding 2,3 even 4 small meals a day is preferable. I like the idea of one hour in the morning and then a few hours in the evening as this would allow me to enjoy the tank when I am home. Does this throw off the fish at all?


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## TrashmanNYC (Dec 10, 2007)

my light is on a timer.........6pm to 11pm


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

Keep in mind too that fish will respond to any natural light that comes into the room. You could set the 
lights to turn on early in the AM, turn back off sometime after dawn, and then on again towards evening 
when you'd be home again. That would give them a somewhat normal day/night cycle, assuming 
that there are windows in the room, of course. It'd also limit the hours of tank lighting, so you could have 
some control over algae growth. The three feedings per day are fine for most fish, if they're light 
feedings. I wouldn't feed with lights out unless there was some daylight in the room and the fish were 
active, or the fish were night feeders. On one of my tanks, the lights come on from about 2:30PM to 
10:30PM, and I feed twice per day around 4PM and 8PM. They'll adjust to a lot of different things and do 
fine.


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## wcvanorman (Dec 26, 2005)

esonally I follow the light and dark schedule outside. When the sun comes up, I turn the light on and feed them. At night just before full dark I feed them a small amount, a little at a time to allow them to eat it all and none to get away, and then I turn the lights out about 5-10 minutes later. In the morning I also scatter a few algae chips in the tank, for them to find. It keeps them busy trying to find them ad then grab it out of each others mouths. I'd rather they grab a algae chips then at fins. Plus it's fun to see them find them and flee to a hidey hole hoping no one else sees it.


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## cindylou (Oct 22, 2008)

My lights go on at 8 am (feed) Then I feed between 4 and 5 pm lights go out at 6 pm and moonlights are on till around 11 pm. Everything is doing well..No algae problems at all.. :dancing: :fish: :fish:


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## venustus19 (Aug 30, 2007)

i'm with trashmanNYC on this one... my lights come on right about the time i get home(5:30-6), then off around 11pm... i do have small block windows in basement, which let in some light, plus one of my dogs is crated in basement, so there is a lamp on also, which i am sure helps a bit, but i only feed my main tank 1 time a day, usually right when i get home.

the only tank i feed multiple times aday is my fry tank... trying to get them bigger faster, so i can put them into my main tank.


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## natalie559 (Dec 6, 2007)

90G Mbuna is on a timer set to 4-10pm. The tank is fed once a day around 8, with the exception of one fast day per week.

29G planted is on a timer set to 11:30-11:30 as the plants need the light. The tank is fed once per day around 8, with the exception of one fast day per week.


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## TrashmanNYC (Dec 10, 2007)

natalie559 said:


> The tank is fed once a day around 8, with the exception of one fast day per week.


should i use a fast day with juvies in the tank?


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## natalie559 (Dec 6, 2007)

Robb I think it would depend on the size and health of the juvies. When I added in my four species as juvies the yellow labs didn't look as strapping as the other species so I decided not to fast them right away but instead waited for the lab juvies to increase in health and size before starting.

In my opinion as much as we try to not overfeed we still do and fasting is a way of compensating for that. A fat fish is very unattractive and getting one to lose weight once it puts it on is hard.


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