When it comes to your aquarium, you can do that by switching on your lights as the natural daylight fades. Lights can be left on as long as you wish though you will need to take into account the needs of particular fish species.
Useful Tip: When adding new plants to your aquarium additional light time will help them root better and encourage vigorous growth. Believe it or not, fish, in general, do not really care about, nor benefit from supplemental lighting in their aquariums.
This is mainly because being kept in an aquarium with four glass sides gives them more access to light than their natural environment would. To put it simply, with regards to fish, additional lighting is really all about what we like. There are, however, exceptions to this, such as Cichlids , Tetras , and Elephant Nose fish who prefer dimmer light and have been known to be adversely affected by bright light.
It, therefore, is advisable to do some research on the fish species in your aquarium to see if they have any special lighting requirements. For those fish who do not have special lighting needs the general rule of thumb for lighting would be 8 to 12 hours per day.
Most of this, especially in the summer months, will come from natural lighting, but in winter you will need to turn your lighting on more. Useful Tip: Do not leave aquarium lighting on overnight.
Fish do need to rest and sleep and the majority, like us, do this in the dark. They are easy to set up, reliable and inexpensive to purchase. The amount of ambient lighting your aquarium receives, as covered briefly above, will have a huge effect on how long you will need your supplemental lighting on.
For example, a bright sunny room will need less additional light than a dimly lit one, as will a room that is commonly artificially lit. Seasons also play a part in ambient lighting since in winter darkness sets in earlier than in summer. Useful Tip: If your fish appear to be resting or sleeping far more than they are active, it is a sign they are not getting enough light. Switch on your aquarium lights if this appears to be the case, to ensure they get 8 to 12 hours of light per day.
However, it is also just as important that they do not get too much light. This is mainly due to excess light being a huge cause of algae overgrowth. Whilst excess algae growth is more commonly linked to natural sunlight and having your aquarium directly in the path of it, it can also be the result of too much supplemental light.
Either way, it is a nightmare to get rid of when it takes a hold of your aquarium, and not very attractive. If you do find that your aquarium is suffering from an algae bloom, you should reduce the time your supplemental lights are on. There are a number of fish that can help you clean your aquarium by eating excessive algae. It is important to note, during the early days of plant development in the aquarium, you will need to leave the lights on for longer periods, to allow the roots of the plant to grow stronger and deeper.
If is also important to know, that too much light will also promote algae growth. I will explain this below. The total amount of hours to leave the aquarium lights on will also depend on the amount of ambient light allowed into the room. If your aquarium is placed in a position where it is receiving direct sunlight, or your room has big windows that allow natural light in the house, or your aquarium is placed in a room where lamps are always on, most likely you will not need to run the supplement lighting throughout the day.
You will be required to switch on the aquatic lights a few hours in the day, especially late in the evenings because ambient room lighting is not direct. During the cold seasons such as winter, when natural light levels are low, leave the aquatic lightings on for longer.
This will enhance the growth of healthier aquatic plants. However, as the hours of the day lengthen, shorten the lighting period to offer only the correct amount of light required in the aquarium.
Algae are tiny aquatic plants. Their growth and presence in the aquarium is mostly facilitated and highly promoted by too much light. If your aquarium is prone to developing high levels of algae, then consider reducing the time you leave the aquarium lights on to 8 hours or less in a day, in order to limit algae growth.
Monitoring algae levels in the aquarium, is therefore, a good way to determine how long you should leave the lights on in the tank. However, remember the ultimate goal is not to eliminate all the algae in the aquarium.
Some fish species depend on algae as a source of food, therefore the goal is to maintain its growth manageable levels. Direct sunlight promotes a faster growth of algae compared to artificial light.
Therefore, an aquarium that is placed near direct sunlight, for instance close to the window, will require less artificial lighting compared to one in a darker room. Most people find it hard to control and maintain uniform periods of lighting in the aquarium same time each day. One could forget to turn on or off the aquarium lights, or get too busy at work.
Luckily, there are on-off timers available in the market that you can set to automatically switch the lights on and off after a period of time that you have set. These timers are easily available at any pet store at an affordable price. Every aquarium owner is advised to have one. Aquarium lights not only provide light for your fish and aquatic plants, but also produce heat that can significantly raise the temperature levels of water in the aquarium.
Some of the lightings types that can produce a lot of heat, enough heat to kill fish in small aquariums, include metal halide incandescent and VHO-Fluorescent. Make sure you do not leave these types lights on overnight to avoid accidents. If you want safer and mild lightings, consider getting standard fluorescent lights.
This type of lighting is ideal in larger tank environments that require brighter, deeper penetration and a mix of bulb types. T-5 HO bulbs generate a significant amount of heat, so be sure to monitor the temperature inside your aquarium regularly and turn off the T-5 lights when necessary.
LED Light Emitting Diode — Relatively new to the aquatics scene, LED lighting is fast becoming the favorite for aquariums due to their slim design, shimmer effects and colors, cool operating temperatures, and low cost to operate. A wide selection of sizes and types are available for any aquatic environment.
LEDs also generate a consistent color of light through their lifetime. This is an advantage over fluorescent lights that experience a shift in color spectrum white to yellow over months. How much lighting do I need?
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