im going away for a few days so the lights wont be on, will any plants be ok?

What kinds of plants are we talking about, Katmad? Most low light plants do well without lights for a few days, while other high light plants are a different story....

oh its low level, its an anubias. so u think it will be okay for a few days??

it's opposite a window so will get a bit of light coz i'll leave the curtains open.

why not get a light timer?

I'm with fondoo, get yourself a little timer. You plug it in, set it for your on and off time, plug the lights into the timer and forget about it. That way your tank gets a steady cycle of light and dark and you don't have to worry about oversleeping and not turning the lights on or forgetting to turn them off or not being home at the right times. I check my timers periodically to make sure they still read the right time, I'm paranoid.

That's why I like this place. Some folks have such a quick grasp for the obvious.

I'm thinking...Of Course! A timer. Doh! Why didn't I think of that?

'S ok! Sometimes I don't see the answer until I hit post and think 'Duh!'

Where can I buy a light timer? I've been thinking about getting one for the past couple months, and I know I'll be going on vacation for a couple weeks in the summer. I looked on petco's and petsmart's webpages but I couldn't find anything reasonable for a little ten gallon with florescents.

Radio shack or most any electronic type store. The timer does not have to specific for lights but this is an example:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.js...rentPage=search

I hope this helps...

Oh thanks, I didn't realize you could use any old light timer for your aquarium

the light timers w/o the 3rd ground pronge is cheaper and they run about $8.00-$10.00 each. timers with the 3rd ground pronge is about $12.-$15. i picked up my light timers from home depot.

What does the third ground pronge do?

The third prong is for ground the circuit. If you will notice, most plugs have the third prong nowadays. It used to be pretty rare, but it's common now. It's a safely measure. One prong is hot, the other is neutral, and the third is ground.

The "third prong" is indeed a ground. For aquariums and a nearby "wet" environment (your tank), I would never even consider using a electrical device without a ground. I might even suggest having the electrical outlet changed to what is called a "GFI" Ground Fault Interuption. What this does is in the event that water from your filter, lights, etc ever cause a short circuit, this trips the outlest to be reset prior to the fuse at your electrical panel to trip. This could be the difference between electrocuting yourself or your fish....god forbid, that could happen if one is not very careful when doing water changes....in short:

Safety first!