Tank Lights On and Off Several Times a Day ?

DiverDude · #1 03-23-2010, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by George

Is the tank description in your signature accurate? If it is, I assume you have a fish only tank. You can turn on and off the light a couple of times a day no problem.

I guess I could update it to be more specific since I'm a noob and details can be important. I have a couple of Yellow Tail Damsels, an Orange Spotted Watchman Goby, Red Banded Coral Shrimp and a Sand Sifting Sea Star. I'm looking to start on some LPS and am looking to upgrade my lights so i can look at some SPS.

I currently have a schedule running where the lights come on a little after noon (12:30 to be precise) and shut off at 11:30PM. This is because I work long hours and I want the tank lit when I'm at home at night. Otherwise, I'd just set the lights to come on in the morning and shut down ~11 hrs later.

new but handy · #2 03-23-2010, 01:30 AM

what do you have for coral?

DiverDude · #3 03-23-2010, 01:48 AM

No coral just yet but it's coming -LPS only until I figure out some kind of lighting upgrade.

new but handy · #4 03-23-2010, 01:50 AM

if you have no coral then you can do whatever you want with your lights

Funky_Fish14 · #5 03-23-2010, 05:22 AM

Fish are not exactly impressed though with abrupt lighting changes like that. I would just wait till later in the day and feed them a few times while you are home. I notice fish act weird when you do so. They dont bang in to walls, but they certainly dont act normally. Its like turning on room lights where someone is right asleep, they certainly aren't going to get up and eat breakfast then go back to sleep... if that makes sense?

DiverDude · #6 03-23-2010, 03:22 PM

Well they'll get fed at 8am or somewhere around 9pm when I'm home from work. Problem with feeding them at night is that the few hours between 9 and around 11:30 is when I live my life so I can't always be sure to be there or what have you. So, it pretty much has to be first thing.

mike31154 · #7 03-23-2010, 05:12 PM

Invest a few $ in an automatic feeder and that can take care of at least one feeding cycle for you. I use an auto feeder set up to feed 3 times during the photo period. I supplement the evening feeding with frozen when I'm at home. I find it takes my critters a good half hour to forty minutes to really come around and get comfortable. They tend to be quite careful and shy for the first little while. They into a good 'feed' mode after that half hour and I think much of any food I put in there immediately after the lights come on would go to waste.