Fish Tank Lights
By Fishmomma
@Fishmomma (11377)
United States
March 16, 2008 9:53pm CST
Do you have the timers on your fish tanks all set to go on and off at the same time? The reason I'm asking is 1/2 of my tanks don't have plants, so wondered if I should give them less light? I am having trouble with the lighting on one tank, but its the tank cycling, so figured the lighting might be to much. It does have some plants, so does need light.
3 people like this
3 responses
@oscarbartoni (2581)
• United States
25 Mar 08
In a tank without plants then as long as you can see the fish will be fine without extra light. As for the plants , you need to figure out what kind of light that they need, not all plants need the same amount or type of light. Some plants need abut 3 watts of watt per gallon and others can get by with only one watt per gallon. Think of light for your plants the same as food id for your fish, not all fish eat the same kind of food (at least in the wild).
@Fishmomma (11377)
• United States
25 Mar 08
Thank you for your help. This is what I thought was correct. How much light does Water Bamboo need? I have 3 plants haven't grow at all in three years. The rest of the plants look great. Could the Water Bamboo need extra room?
@Fishmomma (11377)
• United States
26 Mar 08
Thanks I can't grow Water Bamboo well out doors either, so think this might be a plant that doesn't do well in Southern California. We had a heat wave, then dropped 30 degrees to the low 60's, then it went back up again. Normally, we are 70 degrees most of the year, but the last 3 years has been very strange. We were 80 degrees on Christmas Day and the East Coast was having record lows.
Most of the plant nurseries don't grow it here. I purchased it from a Aquarium Store and it was in the fish tank. They told me my fish won't eat it and I agree they took a nip and started backing up. The rest of my plants that is another story.
@oscarbartoni (2581)
• United States
26 Mar 08
I am not positive but I don't think that bamboo is a aquatic plant but it will grow with it's roots in water and it does grow very slow. Being slow growing and being able to grow in low light make then a desirable plant for offices, low maintainer's might wish to try to find out more about bamboo on the Internet so that yo can treat it in the right way. I once had a sansevieria plant (like the ones that you see in restraints with long upright and pointed leaves) that I put in an aquarium for several months but then I took it out and it began to grow very well. I do not advise any one to grow terrestrial plants under water unless they come from a place that foods part of the year.
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
17 Mar 08
Your fish still need light. They need a normal night day cycle to function properly just like a person would.
1 person likes this
@Fishmomma (11377)
• United States
17 Mar 08
I know that they need light, but trying to find out if the plants should have extra hours. Thanks for the reply.
1 person likes this
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
17 Mar 08
The plants do not need the extra hours. They need a normal cycle just like the fish - at least 8 hours per day.
1 person likes this
@youless (112123)
• Guangzhou, China
22 Mar 08
The fish tank lights are on all the time at my home. That's because I have many guppies. And guppies are easy to have their babies. I am afraid if I turn off the light at night, the babies will be eaten. This is why I keep the lights on.
