Appreciating your tank in the dark..

Just wondering if anyone here uses any form of night light to dimly illuminate your tank after the usual 9 hours lighting routine?

Usually my lights will be switched on and off automatically at 8am and 6pm respectively, where I would be unable to appreciate the 'beauty' of my tank by the time I get home from work.

Am I missing out something here or being mistaken about the standard lighting regime?

Your comments and advices would be much appreciated.

You can simply change the lighting period from 1pm to 11pm. It's still the same, provided the tank isn't next to a window.

Originally Posted by |squee|

You can simply change the lighting period from 1pm to 11pm. It's still the same, provided the tank isn't next to a window.

Thnks for your quick reply!

I actually tried that for a short period and observed that some plants actually 'close' their leaves at around 8pm, thus stopping photosynthesis process (I guess).So in theory, if I only on the lights at 1pm, the actual photo period will only be 7 hours?

Or.. am I being too technical here..

Originally Posted by Jeanxavier

..........observed that some plants actually 'close' their leaves at around 8pm, thus stopping photosynthesis process (I guess).............

Not true in my case.


I have a custom lightset over my 5ft tank,
consisting of.......
6 x 55W PLs and a
4 x Super bright LED.
2 digital timers and some relays stuff.

Lighting Regime.....
3pm to 5pm ...only 2PLs - switch on (sim. morning weak sun)
5pm to 11.00pm ...all 6PLs - switch on (sim, noon till evening)
11.00pm to 11.30pm ....only 2PLs switch on (sim. evening)
11.30pm to (next day)3pm ... only LEDs (sim. night, daybreak)

With this, I catch the best view of my tank (with photosythesis) and also a night view of it.

Originally Posted by schema

I have a custom lightset over my 5ft tank,
consisting of.......
6 x 55W PLs and a
4 x Super bright LED.
2 digital timers and some relays stuff.
...........

Wow thanks for sharing! That's really quite some effort put in, beneficial for the plants and appreciation to your own satisfaction! Don't mind if I copy it to some extend

May I ask what are those 4x Super bright LED you've mentioned?

Some plants do exhibit that leaf-closing behaviour. It's normal

Originally Posted by Jeanxavier

Wow thanks for sharing! That's really quite some effort put in, beneficial for the plants and appreciation to your own satisfaction! Don't mind if I copy it to some extend

May I ask what are those 4x Super bright LED you've mentioned?

U are most welcome to copy, no patent pending

Those white light LED, go to SLT 3rd floor ask for "super bright".....u might want to invest more for Japan made..... aahhh, another important thing is the resister, get 1/2 watt type, else it might just burnout.

Originally Posted by schema

Those white light LED, go to SLT 3rd floor ask for "super bright".....u might want to invest more for Japan made..... aahhh, another important thing is the resister, get 1/2 watt type, else it might just burnout.

Urmm.. do I have to DIY it or is it off-the-shelf type?

Know nuts about electric stuff.. heh

Originally Posted by |squee|

Some plants do exhibit that leaf-closing behaviour. It's normal

Ah I see.. I thought it is a sign that the plants had "knock-off" liao

Yea that's the "knock-off" behaviour.. I've read that certain plants do that especially stemmed plants.