Aquarium lighting

[Renzo]

I tried searching this but couldn't find a clear answer.

Is anything wrong with leaving the fluorescent lights on at night? Does it keep the fish awake ? When do fish sleep? I have a 21"color changing LED light wand that makes bubbles, can I leave it on all the time? Do the bubbles keep them awake? Thanks in advance for the advice

[mnemenoi]

Only the very rare fish actually 'sleeps' per se'. The lighting is entirely for you, they are far more used to a darker world and having no lights at all would be perfectly acceptable to them. That being said, you can leave your LED light wand on if you prefer. Its entirely up to you, if you notice any abnormal behaviors developing it might be something to revisit. It can also inhibit certain natural breeding behaviors, but if you find it calming it should not be detrimental to your pets.

[Austy16414]

Only the very rare fish actually 'sleeps' per se'. The lighting is entirely for you, they are far more used to a darker world and having no lights at all would be perfectly acceptable to them. That being said, you can leave your LED light wand on if you prefer. Its entirely up to you, if you notice any abnormal behaviors developing it might be something to revisit. It can also inhibit certain natural breeding behaviors, but if you find it calming it should not be detrimental to your pets.

+1 on everything here. Also, you could notice an increase in different kinds of unwanted algae

[Renzo]

+1 on everything here. Also, you could notice an increase in different kinds of unwanted algae

Is algae bad for fish?

[myjohnson]

Nahhh. Algae doesn't seem to effect fish at all really.

[Austy16414]

Nahhh. Algae doesn't seem to effect fish at all really.

Agreed. Just looks like crap

[troy tucker]

You can get a Timer for about $5.00. To keep the algae down.

[morpheus]

I agree with all the posts so far. how long the lights are on is up to you. like troy suggested, i have mine hooked up to timers i got at target or walmart. they are on about 10-12 hours a day total, so the lights are on when i am around to observe them.

i also have algae eaters in every tank to keep that in check.

[Renzo]

I agree with all the posts so far. how long the lights are on is up to you. like troy suggested, i have mine hooked up to timers i got at target or walmart. they are on about 10-12 hours a day total, so the lights are on when i am around to observe them.

i also have algae eaters in every tank to keep that in check.

I added a 3- 4" algae eater to the tank yesterday. How many are good for a 55 g tank?

[Austy16414]

I added a 3- 4" algae eater to the tank yesterday. How many are good for a 55 g tank?

Did you get a common pleco? I've found bristlenoses are the most efficient plecos. Commons grow too fast, then end up making more waste than they clean

[Renzo]

Did you get a common pleco? I've found bristlenoses are the most efficient plecos. Commons grow too fast, then end up making more waste than they clean

Pretty sure it's a common, I don't see any bristle on his nose. From pictures it appears that's the main difference .

[Austy16414]

Pretty sure it's a common, I don't see any bristle on his nose. From pictures it appears that's the main difference .

If you notice it's not working out, look for a bristlenose. I've had a ton of success with them, never been happier with a pleco's work

[morpheus]

the males get the bristles, and females may have small bumps if anything. at that size, if it were a male, it would be obvious.

I have one common black pleco in my 56g and he is doing just fine in controlling the algae/extra food. with your tank being new, just make sure to supplement his diet with algae wafers or sinking pellets since algae and fallen food may not be abundant. as long as you keep the gravel clean too. you have a lot of room in the tank so i wouldnt be worried about size right now. they all grow at different rates. mine has been int he tank for a few years and hasnt grown all that much.

another option is snails if you ever tire of plecos. i have 3 zebra nerites that keep one of my 10g tanks spotless. never seen them in stores like petsmart. would have to call around to other shops

[troy tucker]

There are hundreds of different types of Pleco. So many they give them numbers not names. Important to note. Some types of Pleco don't eat algae at all and other its their basic food. Commons eat algae but can grow up to 3 feet. That's way to big for a 55g tank. Other like bristle nose only get 6inches. And IMO>are the best algae eaters. Algae growth his easy to stop just by stopping all light from getting to the tank. Black it out by covering it with a blanket or something like that for a few days. It will kill all the algae.

[steelo27]

Hey guys, im new to this forum. Im gonna try to bring this discussio? Back to lighting for a sec..... Ok, so i have a 55 gallon established aquarium that for the first 8 months i kept as a fish only tank. But i have since decided to try my hand at live plants again (its been years since my last attempt..didnt do any research then though and just thought if i throw the plant in water it would grow lol).

So first i thought i will just do low light plants, so i upgraded the standard lighting with a 48" LED Finnex Fugeray Planted +, which i have read in many forums is sufficient for low to medium light plants. Then i started to learn that all the pretty non boring plant require medium to High light. So i bought another fixture with 2 48" T5 HO bulbs at 54 watts per bulb. So i am now running both the Finnex LED and the T5s. Being that LED's cant be assessed by the old watts per gallon method, i am having difficulty knowing what level of lighting i have. Is it medium or high? Really would like to know because I have some high light red plants on the way lol