# How long should I leave the aquarium lights on?



## Graceful (Apr 30, 2013)

My dad usually turns on the aquarium lights at around 6 AM. I end up turning them off at around 8-10 PM. Is this too long?


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## shannonpwns (Jul 15, 2013)

I usually stay around 11-12 hours of light on, maybe get a timer? But I dunno if those extra few hours will hurt anything.


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## 10asartin (Mar 28, 2013)

For some people, leaving their tank light on too long will cause an excess grow of algae. This happened to my tank and to take care of the algae outbreak I began leaving the light on 4 hrs, off 4 hours, and back on for 4 more hours. The algae problem has been eliminated and I have switched back to leaving it on for 7-8hrs per day.


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## Graceful (Apr 30, 2013)

I have no algae whatsoever, surprisingly. I do have five snails, though. So maybe they're just eating it faster than it can grow.


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

I leave my light on longer bc I have nerites who gobble up the algae. Make sure there's enough get-away for the betta who might prefer a dark space here and there though.


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## Lucubration (Jul 7, 2013)

I have my light on from 8am to noon, then 5pm to 11pm. That way algae doesn't get out of hand and I get to enjoy the lit tank!


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## FirstBetta (Jun 14, 2013)

I have my lights on from ~10AM to ~8PM. I had them on for an hour longer and had a minor algae (brown, diatom) problem. I decided to play with the lights to see what happens. I reduced the time by a 1/4 hour at a time until I'm at the current time. The amount of algae reduced in concert w/ the reduction of time for the lights. 

BTW the lights are 48 W of T5HO lights on a 29 gal tank.


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