Is it better to leave my the lights on or off on my aquariums if I'm leaving town for the weekend.?

Question

I have 2 1 gallon betta tanks and a 10 gallon fancy goldfish tank.

Answer 1

Leave them off for the weekend. For one thing, your fish need a light and dark cycle just like you do. It will stress them the same way it would stress you if you were put in a room for a whole weekend with bright lights on!

Second, I am a big believer in not running electrical items when away from home. For one thing, it is a waste of electricity to run those lights for 48 hours straight (even if you have live plants they should be able to take one weekend of low light) and also anything like that could potentially catch on fire and damage your home. It is a small risk but it still exists and no one would be home to notice if the light fixture overheats and it catches fire.

Answer 2

Go out and buy 1 cheep $5 timer and set it to come on for 8 to 12 hours per day depending on how long you usualy leave the lights on.
Add a power bar and and plug all of your lights from the different tanks onto it, this way you will only have to buy 1 timer.
Most people have an extension cord with more than 1 plug in on it laying around the house, This will work just fine.
This will not only work when you are away, but you will never have to worry about turning the lights on or off when you are home.
One less chore for you.

Answer 3

Honestly it is up to you. You can leave them on and the fish will be fine. They rest when they want anyway lights on or off.

Leaving them on for the weekend will not promote enough algae growth to be concerned with. I frequently fall asleep leaving my tank lights on over night and once in a while over the weekend. I don't have algae growth in the tanks.

Turning them off and leaving them off doesn't hurt the fish either.

Either way. I usually leave mine on.

You can always buy a timer from walmart if you are really concerned about on or off. But it really doesn't make much of a difference for the weekend.

Answer 4

This question has a simple answer that I dealt with in the 1000s of aquariums I serviced over the years, and that is a timer.
Set your timer for 10 -12 hour light cycles, you can also add multiple timers for more lights to turn them on more gradually (if you have more than one light)

We had 90% of our clients tanks on timers and this worked very well.


For more answers to aquatic questions, you might try this site:
http://aquarium-answers.blogspot.com/

Answer 5

Leave them off. The tanks will get light from outside (leave your shades open). If you leave the tank lights on, your tanks may develop some serious algae problems.

Or you could get a couple 5 dollar timers and they'll do the job of turning the lights on and off for you :)

Answer 6

i wager that relies upon on what varieties of fish you've. My mom used to have Oscars and they slept, yet wandered round...besides the undeniable fact that my gouramis opt for to position on the bottom and sleep. they could't close their eyes, yet you could tell because they don't concentration like favourite. in the experience that they lay down on the gravel and also you bypass your finger interior the front of the glass with out touching it, and thier eyes do no longer bypass, likely they are asleep. My fish fairly study about the time it truly is for mattress...they get fairly sluggish and lie down on the bottom..for some species its fairly favourite. For spring destroy contained in the dorms at my college, I left an automatic feeder on the tank and positioned a timer on the hollow. It worked fairly properly, yet make positive that the situations you've the gentle off correspond to the time you'll have it off, that way your fish know it truly is mattress time. i know it sounds weird and wonderful, yet I swear my fish can tell the time! At round 9:30-10 pm they get all sleepy and bypass to the bottom....somewhat after that the tank shuts off and they keep nevertheless highly a lot until eventually correct before the gentle turns back on. i pick to keep them on a similar time table, that way they know at the same time as they are fed, at the same time as they get thier daily snack, and at the same time as to sleep! In a fashion, my fish are my youngsters, and some are merely as temperamental...your boyfriend might want to easily no longer be very receptive to a puppy's desires, or maybe he jus thasn't had a lot adventure with fish...you at the on the spot are not loopy. :)

Answer 7

Leave them off and let daylight light the tank. If you're really concerned about timing then you could pick up a light timer at a hardware store. That will turn your tank lights on and off.

Answer 8

The only reason to have lights in your aquarium is for live plant growth and for our viewing pleasure. The fish don't need it. The biggest reason, aside from the fish not needing the light, is that allowing any electrical device to be on in your absence is an invitation for an electrical fire. The aquariums will be fine in your absence without lights and it will be much safer to leave them off. Have fun!

Answer 9

We left them on and came home to a MAJOR algae-fest. The pet store guy says feed them before you go and leave the lights off. He says they will slow down and rest at the bottom of the tank and the lights being off won't let the algae go nuts. Trust me on this one!! It took me forever to get the algae cleared up after 1 weekend w/ the lights on!

Answer 10

the fish really wouldn't miss the light. And leaving the light on alot helps the algea to grow. If it is in your budget, you could get a timer that will turn it off and on at whatever times you would like it to.