[j to the hart]

i have seven 2.5-3in rb's and i was wondering how long i should have my light be turned on.

 

[rchan11]

You can go with natural light cycle or 12 hr.

 

[RhomZilla]

You can try and mimic their natural environment with 12 hr day/12 hr night with an automatic timer. But whatever you decide, Ps will adapt to however you choose your lightings.

 

[Guest]

If you don't have plants then its up to you.

Keeping the lights on under 8 hours and doing regular water changes, minimal Phosphates. Will ensure you don't get green algae everywhere. I do this just to make sure, cleaning algae is harder in a P tank.

 

[skelator]

I agree with Rhomzilla... My personal preference is to use a timer because it keeps my light schedule regulated, irregaurdless or me being home or not.

It's not necessary by any means, just my personal preference due to the convienience and consistancy

Edit: I go 12 hours on, 12 hours off...

 

[Judazzz]

I keep the lights in my tanks on as long as I'm awake (unless I'm going out for a drink, in which case I switch them off when I leave the house).
On average, the lights are on about 14-18 hours a day - may seem long, but I'm using this scheme for more than 2 years now, and all the fish are as healthy as it gets: so I don't think the lights are on too long.

*edit*
btw: are you guys sure the natural light cycle is 12/12 hours? To be honest, I don't think so (seasonal changes, very short periods of dusk and dawn in the tropics, etc.)

 

[a_plus1234]

My timer is set from 9am to 9pm.

 

[skelator]

*edit*
btw: are you guys sure the natural light cycle is 12/12 hours? To be honest, I don't think so (seasonal changes, very short periods of dusk and dawn in the tropics, etc.)

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I realized that I was not simulating a true light cycle when I originally set the timer up. But I decided it didn't really matter in the whole scheme of things. Good point though Judazzz.

But as you can see, j to the hart, from the different light schedules that everybody has, your fish will be fine with whatever you give them (as far as light schedule's are concerned). My only suggestion would be to to keep it fairly consistant.

 

[sccavee]

I have a timer and mine are on for 10 hours a day.

 

[GoodFella]

If you don't have live plants I wouldn't keep my lights on that long b/c I found when I had my live plants and keep my lights on a lot a had a bunch of algae all over the tank. When the lights were off most of the time I had little to no algae. I have 2 power compacts on a timer now with a 50/50 in the morning, then a daylight, then 50/50 in the evening, and lunar lights at night. It looks pretty tight but all those lights were a decent amount of $.

 

[Novato]

I have a timer and mine are on for 10 hours a day.

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Same here and my Piranhas are really healthy and no algae problems.

 

[Piranha Fan]

I keep the lights off during the day and crack the blinds a bit I only use the light at night.

 

[Guru]

I go with 8 like what Mellor44 said. I notice that algee will start growing after that and also noticed that my plants would flourish faster too.