tank lighting
 

I saw a forum member comment that tank lights should be kept on 24/7. I always turn the lights off at night. Anyone know what is best?

To be honest I believe its up to you. I have tanks that are on timers and some that the light is on 24/7 and personaly I do not see any difference. But thats just my opinion. I would imagine if you have a planted tank it would make a difference.

Algee may become a problem. If there left on 24/7.

i turn my light off at night, only coz in the wild it does get dark.
fish dont always have light on them.
when it gets dark it gets dark. would u wanna sleep with the light on all night??? :?

There's no need to leave lights on 24/7. Too much light can lead to algae, plus fish need to rest. There are also fish that are more active at night.

Thanks everyone :) I agree with fiona, it does get dark in the wild, and I wouldn't want to sleep with the lights on all the time :P

Unless you have a planted tank, i'd personally recommend you turn the lights off whenever you're not around and likely to look in there! ie. at work. The fish won't care one bit! You'll save on electricity, the chances of algae blooms will go down and it'll keep you're tank cooler if it's particularly hot.
Obviously plants need light to photosynthesise, but upto 12 hours is usually fine for them. In fact it is particularly important to turn the lights off at night if you have plants, as they respire at night (the opposite of photosynthesis) and they can't do this with light!

tis is a good point,
the plants need to do there thing :D