how many hours per day to leave lighting on?

[Celticreefer]

hey guys,

just got my first two fish today, two clowns, along with 10 hermit crabs. Before i got fish i had the lights on 5 hrs every day with my life rock. my question is now that i have fish in my FOWLR, should i increase, decrease or leave my lighting hours the same? thanks!

 

[JayM]

the light is only for you to look at the fish...so how long the lights stay on are up to you. Once you get some corals, then start to think about 10 hours/day

 

[Blueflu1]

Yea, I agree. Fish need the lights on at some point, because most hide during the dark but it doesn't matter much for how long. You could do 3 hours or 10 hours. Just FYI, if you bump up your lighting hours, do it in steps. If you go from 5 hours to 10 hours, in one shot, you could get algae from the increase in lighting.