I am lost on date()

I think this is the function I am supposed to be using, but I am obviously not using it right. $createdtime is the result of a call to a mysql database time column. So, its format is 00:00:00, and I assume $createdtime is considered a string. I just want to chop off the leading 0 on a date such as 07:05:22. I tried using $createdtime = date("g:i:s", $createdtime); but the results are not what I expected. It outputs as 7:00:07 instead of the expected 7:05:22. Am I even close? ;) any help is much appreciated Generic Player