Leaving the lights on.....or off?

[harvey floyd]

Hello We are leaving thursday and will not return until monday.... I was not sure what to do about our light situation, I do not have anyone that can come over and turn them on and off, nor will a timer work with our ballast'. Should we just leave them on? or off........

 

[vazquez66]

Just wondering why a timer will not work.
I have never encountered that.
VAZ

 

[von_rahvin]

they do just die, i have had a few timers die over the years. it is really odd that a timer will not work with your ballast?? what kind is it and how is it wired? i have never run into anything electrical that i could not get to work with some sort of timer.

 

[kris]

i would leave them off-I don't know about yours but my fish never rest till the lights go out-

 

[harvey floyd]

The lights are switched. You have to push the button in and hold it for a second or two for them to kick in. We tried the timer but it won't work with these.

 

[broomer5]

FO or FOWLR - lights off - no problem.
Reef w/corals - MUST find a trusted neighbor or friend to come over and turn them on and off.

 

[saltfin]

Might use timer and a near by 100 watt lamp. A cheap $8.00 shop light would go on and off ok. You have an old style ballast - remember the old flours. with starters?? I didn't think so. o-well.
Good Luck.

 

[tiggerbengal]

Harvey,
My original light stip on my 125 has the button, too, and I was able to hook it up to a timer.

 

[reeferx]

I had to use a heavy duty grounded timer to get my halide to kick in, is yours the three prong kind?

 

[harvey floyd]

Nope the ballasts are 2 prong they have a square ballast on each of the cords its about 2" by 2" There are no corrals in the tank just a lion fish, a snowflake eel, and a lawnmower blenny. With a few hermits and emerald crabs. Tried for about an hour to get the lights to work it seems that once the power is shut off to them it resets the push button switch. Like if you were to unplug it with the lights on, then plug it back in the lights would not be on, you would have to depress the button again.

 

[jakob4001]

if you have reef w/ corals, you are probably best to leave the lights on...otherwise the tank should be able to go w/o lighting for that period of time...or like what was suggested earlier, use a temporary lighting of some sort that will work w/ a timer & at some point replace that old style lighting unit

 

[sinner's girl]

?? everyone is saying leave the lights off...but won't that stress the fish? i'd rather deal with the algea...what about lr die- off? lights off for 5 days? I remember our lights were off (advice from lfs to help algea problem) and not only were the fish not happy but stuff died off the lr...which started a mini-cycle...?
I know in the ocean the day might be cloudy and they might not see light...I just remember our fish weren't happy.
just wondering...I'm not saying leave them off since everyone is saying turn them off.

 

[cwfish]

I agree that I would setup a house light on a timer. What about feeding your fish. 5 Days seems like quite a while unless you have built them all up to this schedule?? Good luck.