Lights on or off when out of town?

[roysmama]

I'll be out of town for 6 days. I have someone coming over to feed my betta and apple snail while I'm gone but because of my setup, I can't get a timer for my tank light as it is not independent of my filter and will therefore also turn the filter off all night (Ahhh!). My question is, in an 8 gallon tank, with only one small live plant, a betta and an apple snail, is it safe to leave the lights off during that time?

[MooseKnocker]

Maybe have your friend turn it on on day and off the next?

[Bettanewbie60]

Duh...I just saw that you wrote you couldn't get a timer...are the filter and light both in the lid?

[Firefly85]

I would leave the light off, depending on the type of plant, You could just have a house light that turns off and on, so the live plant doesn't die.

[thekoimaiden]

What is the live plant? If it's something like java fern or anubias you can just leave the light off. These are hardy, low-light plants. I had a java fern survive on just ambient light for about 3 months.

[roysmama]

Thanks for the advice guys! It's just a little java fern and since the room gets plenty of natural light during the day, I think I'll leave the lights off.

Yes, the light is built into the lid. It's a biorb. I KNOW. Don't remind me. When I asked the manufacturer how to get around this flaw, they recommended I buy this hundred dollar timer they sell just for biorbs...

[homegrown terror]

i wouldn't worry about the filter being off at night, unless it's a really small tank. we cut the filters on our bedroom tanks while we sleep because the electrical output creates a lot of static interference on the baby monitor.