25 or 29 gallon tank not sure

zigzag131

Large Fish
Apr 10, 2009
135
0
0
#1
how long should i leave the light on each day? i bought the light at walmart in their fish section cause it was cheap so its 24 inches long and just your average aquarium flourescent bulb i guess
 

jo3olous

Large Fish
Aug 6, 2008
909
1
0
Philadelphia, PA
#2
how long should i leave the light on each day? i bought the light at walmart in their fish section cause it was cheap so its 24 inches long and just your average aquarium flourescent bulb i guess
light has no effect on your fish except that it can heat your water a bit. if you leave it on for too long (>10hrs/day) you might get algae breakouts. if your tank is planted, you would want correct lighting to support their needs (not your avg flourescent). hope this helps
 

zigzag131

Large Fish
Apr 10, 2009
135
0
0
#3
ok thank you and after i get my other tanks up and running im making my 29 into a planted tank and yes i will read about it way before i purchase any plants
 

emmanuelchavez

Superstar Fish
Feb 22, 2008
1,370
0
0
#4
light has no effect on your fish except that it can heat your water a bit. if you leave it on for too long (>10hrs/day) you might get algae breakouts. if your tank is planted, you would want correct lighting to support their needs (not your avg flourescent). hope this helps
Wrong. Fish do sleep, and have night and day cycles as well. It'd be like saying there's no effect on humans if the sun never went down... Maybe we'd be a bit happier? :rolleyes: The sun rays apparently make us happier..
 

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
May 16, 2003
8,589
10
38
42
Colorado
#7
Actually sleep cycles or not, the aquarium light does not need to be turned on for your fish's well-being. I mean if your tank were in a room that had absolutely no light I dont think it would be real nice to just keep them in the dark all the time, but aside from your enjoyment, they dont need the light. One of my tanks downstairs doesnt even have lights :) I usually follow my patterns, I turn lights on in the morning and off at night...but some days they dont get turned on at all. If you put plants in the mixture then its a whole other ballgame :)
 

jo3olous

Large Fish
Aug 6, 2008
909
1
0
Philadelphia, PA
#9
Wrong. Fish do sleep, and have night and day cycles as well. It'd be like saying there's no effect on humans if the sun never went down... Maybe we'd be a bit happier? :rolleyes: The sun rays apparently make us happier..
Fish do sleep; I was speaking in terms of what the light does to a fish. Sure fish born in the wild would probably prefer night and day. But fish also do not need light at all. I would think it's arguable that fish bred in captivity wouldn't even know what daylight is, so why would it matter?

In short, my correct reference would be a fish does not need tank lighting to live. I have never actually heard anyone argue that a 247 lit tank can stress and kill a fish because it will lose sleep, so i did not consider that side of my statement.
I'd rather say you interpreted my post wrong.
 

emmanuelchavez

Superstar Fish
Feb 22, 2008
1,370
0
0
#10
Haha, I knew what you mean. I just wanted to give you a hard time. Before I had my timers on, and would leave the lights on for 16+ hours b/c I was barely at home due to school and work, I'd come home to find my fish looking stressed out and pale constantly. They stopped behaving this way once I put them on a constant light cycle.

There's typically enough ambient light in a room that an actual light strip isn't needed for them to know whether it's night or day.
 

jo3olous

Large Fish
Aug 6, 2008
909
1
0
Philadelphia, PA
#11
Haha, I knew what you mean. I just wanted to give you a hard time. Before I had my timers on, and would leave the lights on for 16+ hours b/c I was barely at home due to school and work, I'd come home to find my fish looking stressed out and pale constantly. They stopped behaving this way once I put them on a constant light cycle.

There's typically enough ambient light in a room that an actual light strip isn't needed for them to know whether it's night or day.
this is what I wanted to know based on a reliable experience, ty
 

jo3olous

Large Fish
Aug 6, 2008
909
1
0
Philadelphia, PA
#13
Hooray! Nice to know I'm reliable. *GOLDFISH*

If I remember correctly, your aquarium doesn't have a light strip, but instead you use natural light, right?
Well my 20G used to be in my room across a window, so the window was the only source of light, then of course my bedroom light. Now the 20G is out in the family room with my 60G, and they really have no source of light as my family room is underground and the windows are at the top of the room that reaches above surface. (split level home). But there is no actual lighting at all. At night when we are watching movies we have a lamp and and wall lighting around the tank area so the TV doesn't spook them. I heard down the grapevine that when lights are out fish can see everything outside the tank so flashing lights spook them. When the tank is well lit the light creates reflections in the tank walls obstructing the fish from seeing anything outside the tank. True?
 

emmanuelchavez

Superstar Fish
Feb 22, 2008
1,370
0
0
#14
Well my 20G used to be in my room across a window, so the window was the only source of light, then of course my bedroom light. Now the 20G is out in the family room with my 60G, and they really have no source of light as my family room is underground and the windows are at the top of the room that reaches above surface. (split level home). But there is no actual lighting at all. At night when we are watching movies we have a lamp and and wall lighting around the tank area so the TV doesn't spook them. I heard down the grapevine that when lights are out fish can see everything outside the tank so flashing lights spook them. When the tank is well lit the light creates reflections in the tank walls obstructing the fish from seeing anything outside the tank. True?
Not too sure. When I walk into my old room, where my 100g is at, and the lights are on, the fish automatically swim to where I am, begging for food, so I'm assuming they can see me. Same for when the lights are off.
 

bmoraski

Large Fish
Mar 9, 2009
604
2
18
Upstate NY
#15
i guess it would also depend on how clean your Glass is !
LOL !
i leave my standard fluorescent on from about 9a till 3 or 4p but now theres much more light in my den so i could go without turning light on at all this time of the year.
later
ps i have only fake plants so if your gonna have real plants then you have to make sure you have the right lighting
 

Last edited:
Feb 27, 2009
4,395
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#16
ok thank you and after i get my other tanks up and running im making my 29 into a planted tank and yes i will read about it way before i purchase any plants
Make sure you get actual aquatic plants when you buy them. Many fish stores sell you bog plants that will die in a few months if kept underwater. Dunno if its ignorance or they just want repeat business when you must keep buying plants to replace those that died. My LFS had 16 different plants for sale last time I was in the store, 12 of which were not aquatic.