Tank Lighting Question

[Dresden]

Hi everyone, I have a Betta and some shrimp in a 6 gallon eclipse with a few plants. From everything I am reading it says to keep the lights on about 10 hrs a day. Am I able to stagger this somewhat and have a 2 hrs timer in the morning (6am-8am) when I wake up and feed them, then another 8 hrs late afternoon (3pm-11pm)so I can enjoy the viewing in the evening? or just have it run from 1pm to 11pm and feed in the regular room illumination in the morning?
Thank you in advance.

[kelly528]

Plants only 'register' light in periods of at leat 4 hours.

Most people prefer 8 hour light periods because 10 hours will give you a lot of algae unless you are growing high-light plants like dwarf hairgrass of H.C. Personally I give my 5.5g 6 hours of light because low-light plants don't need much light to thrive.

[1fish2fish]

I leave mine on anywhere from 6 to 12 hours a day.. if its sunny I just let natural sunlight in the room and light in the evening.. if its rainy I leave the light on most of the day. Besides diatoms I haven't had any serious algae problems *yet*

[Dresden]

Ok so is it ok to turn light's on manually for the 1 hr in the am while I feed em have my cereal do my sss's etc and watch? then turn off and do a timed 8 hr light on in the pm or would that mess em up heh?

[kelly528]

Yeah its fine I do the same thing... I have a rough time getting up and all my tanks are in my room so I set the timer for 5am-7am and by the time the alarm goes off at 6am I'm wide awake! Then I feed my goldfish (not the other fatties- they only get oe meal a day) and get ready for work.

[1fish2fish]

I turn my lights on in the morning too.. it doesn't seem to upset the fish.

I'm just going to hijack a little and ask.. Kelly, could I keep fancy goldfish (or black moors) in a 20 tall? or would that be to narrow?

[kelly528]

I wouldn't attempt, espescially if you are a busy person who can't change the water frequently.

The general stocking rule is 20g for the first (FANCY) goldie, 10 for each additional one

However due to variation in breed size, some breeds of goldfish (ie Telescopes (including the black moor), Pearlscales, and Bubble-Eyes) require closer to 10g per fish wheras some of the larger breeds (Ryukins and Fantails) may need closer to 15 or even 20g per fish.

While the 20g high (which is what I'm keeping my girl in til the 50g comes!) may be suitable for one fish, goldies are social (and smart!) and do best in groups of at least 3.

If you are willing to shell out for a tank of at least 30g though I strongly recommend it! They're hilarious fish and will even eat from your hand. Fancies will live from anywhere between 8 and 20 years and make a good 'pet' wheras most of my fish are just a 'hobby'. Mine are gonna be with me all through college and longer <3.

PS. If you're still not convinced, here is some eye candy to get you started... I didn't think twice about goldies until I saw what this guy had!

And lastly here is my first (so far) goldie...



I named her Satsuma (an chinese sweet orange). Not my photo skillz though this is the breeder pic lol!

[1fish2fish]

Oh she is gorgeous! Thanks for the tips. I'm getting a 20 high for free and I've really wanted goldies.. I'll wait until I can get a larger tank and just put a tropical community in the 20 high. Water changes wouldn't be an issue for me (I always do more than the recommended water changes) but I wouldn't want them to be cramped.

ok.. hijack ended :)