# What time is best for planted tanks?



## brapbrapboom (Sep 2, 2009)

Im thinking of getting a timer now since my light is not always turned on/off on time and 8hr. period

so will this time be good for plants still? 1~8pm?


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

When I still kept planted tanks, they were on full blast 8-10 hrs of light per day and I had a supplimentary light that keeps the tank lit for about 2 hours before and after to keep the tank illuminated for me to see the fish, but they were lower wattage ones.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Any 8 hour period is fine. My lights come on at 4:30 pm and go off at 12:30 am. This way, I can enjoy my aquarium while I am at home.


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## brapbrapboom (Sep 2, 2009)

ah! as long as they have the 8hr period? but wouldnt it affect photosynthesis?


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

brapbrapboom said:


> ah! as long as they have the 8hr period? but wouldnt it affect photosynthesis?


Plants will only photosynthesize in the presence of light. As long as you keep the other 16 hours fairly dark, then the plants will be fine.

I have an ADA Mini-S by the window, and it gets 8 hours of artificial light, and then about an extra 1-2 hours of indirect light.


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

With the Time Of Use (TOU) now I have my timers come on when the TOU is lowest.

Winter weekdays my lights turn on from 23:00 - 06:00. On weekends I just override the timer and keep them on as all-day weekends (Sat/Sun) are off peak hours. During the weekdays off-peak is 21:00 - 07:00.

http://www.hydroone.com/TOU/Pages/Default.aspx#


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## camboy012406 (Jun 11, 2010)

brapbrapboom said:


> Im thinking of getting a timer now since my light is not always turned on/off on time and 8hr. period
> 
> so will this time be good for plants still? 1~8pm?


buy timer in dollar store. It cost me 3 dollar each.


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

camboy012406 said:


> buy timer in dollar store. It cost me 3 dollar each.


Are they grounded (3 prong)? I was at Can.T today to get some stuff and saw the timers. Only the non-grounded one is IIRC $5ish but it's a digital timer.


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## camboy012406 (Jun 11, 2010)

heres mine.


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## deuces (Oct 11, 2010)

I like to have mine turn on later in the afternoon as well. That way I can still enjoy seeing the tank if i come home late from work.

Has anyone ever tried with the 4 hour "siesta" lights off in the between? Did it make things better/worse with respect to plant growth and algae?


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## BettaBeats (Jan 14, 2010)

deuces said:


> I like to have mine turn on later in the afternoon as well. That way I can still enjoy seeing the tank if i come home late from work.
> 
> Has anyone ever tried with the 4 hour "siesta" lights off in the between? Did it make things better/worse with respect to plant growth and algae?


the siesta can be used to control algae.
and it shouldnt affect the plants, however, if you want to see your plants pearling then this method doesnt really work.


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## brapbrapboom (Sep 2, 2009)

camboy012406 said:


> heres mine.


do you have to time this thing everyday? or once you have set this one ur all good for the rest of week/month/year?


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## deuces (Oct 11, 2010)

BettaBeats said:


> the siesta can be used to control algae.
> and it shouldnt affect the plants, however, if you want to see your plants pearling then this method doesnt really work.


Sorry plant newbie question.... I thought pearling indicated things were at optimal levels? So if it doesn't pearl it's not growing to its max?


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## deuces (Oct 11, 2010)

brapbrapboom said:


> do you have to time this thing everyday? or once you have set this one ur all good for the rest of week/month/year?


Looks like it has one on/off setting (can see the two tabs on the timer) that is used everyday automatically. Some timers can have multiple on/off periods, which you probably only need if you were doing the siesta lights off period.

As AquaNeko mentioned I'd think you just need to make sure your light only uses two prongs as the cheper timers don't have a grounded plug.


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