lights on or off

[30 hex]

i am going away for 3 days. should i leave the lights on or off. all i have is some live rock, 2 small crabs and 5 "feeder" shrimp. i want my algae to turn green and i have a lot of plants on my rocks. no time to get a timer

 

[tanker newbie]

i would get timers for your lights, there pretty inexpensive and there great, just set the time u want it to turn on, then set what time to turn off and plug ur light wire into the box and wolah, done, that way even if you are in town but forget to turn the lights off, besiesd by setting it to turn on and off at x time, the fish get into a habit of knowing when its time to go to sleep, and wake up, but if this cant be an option, try someone like a neighbor or family member to tank sit, and if thats not an option i dont know what to tell ya

 

[pootietang#1]

I'd say keep the lights off, if only for a few days, because overall, it'll keep the fish calmer. Do you add additives to your water? Like kalkwaser and all that stuff? If you don't, you should prob think about starting to be using them, that'll help your algae turn green.

 

[pufferlover]

Unless you had a emergency trip to do I find it strange that you have no time to buy a timer. Everyone sells them from Walgreens to every home store. They are one of the aquarists best tools. They don't forget to do their job and they work forever and best of all it saves wear and tear on your lights switch assembly.

 

[30 hex]

its not that i dont have time to buy the timer but my hood needs the switch held in to start the bulb and i dont have time to change my lighting system.i guess my mini might will work with a timer and that will be better than nothing.

 

[coop21]

You could do what I did a while back and leave all the blinds in the room open. That way the light from the sun (not direct light) would light your tank during the day. Worked in a pinch.