How Long Should My Fish be in Total Darkness?

[andy36yr19]

I have a 30 gallon tank with 11 neon tetras, 1 betta, 1 baby pleco, 4 amano shrimp, and a yoyo loach. Where I live it gets dark at about 6 PM and It doesn't get light until 9 am how long should my fish be in darkness so I dont get algae blooms?

 

[fluttermoth]

Do you have a light on the tank, or is just getting sunlight? Do you have live plants?

 

[NickAu]

Hi

and a yoyo loach

These must be kept in groups of 6 or more and your tank is too small for YoYo's.

Bettas and Tetras do not make good tank mates, male Bettas are best kept on their own.

 

[andy36yr19]

Hi

These must be kept in groups of 6 or more and your tank is too small for YoYo's.

Bettas and Tetras do not make good tank mates, male Bettas are best kept on their own.

Oh ok. My female betta and the other fish have been in there for about 4 months now and no fighting or deaths.

 

[andy36yr19]

Do you have a light on the tank, or is just getting sunlight? Do you have live plants?

Yes I have a moonlight for night I leave it on when it's dark but I dont know how much they should be on

 

[andy36yr19]

Do you have a light on the tank, or is just getting sunlight? Do you have live plants?

Yes I have 4 anubias frazeri, 5 anubias barteri, and an amazon sword on driftwood. With some java moss on the gravel for the shrimp.

 

[NickAu]

Oh ok. My female betta and the other fish have been in there for about 4 months now and no fighting or deaths.

It may or may not work in the long run, female Bettas can be just as aggressive as males.

However the YoYo loach needs a new home very soon.

 

[andy36yr19]

It may or may not work in the long run, female Bettas can be just as aggressive as males.

However the YoYo loach needs a new home very soon.

Ok. Soooo what about the lights?

 

[Byron]

The periods of light and dark are extremely important for fish, because this drives their circadian rhythm (as it does all animals including us) but with fish it is a major aspect of their stress and health because it affects their physiology and metabolism.

Presumably you have the tank lighting on for a period of hours each day for the plants. This is the "daylight" as far as the fish are concerned, whatever the light might be like in the room. It can be a period of say six hours up to eight, or sometimes a bit longer, but algae may become a nuisance if the lighting is on too long. And it must be in one period, remaining on for whatever number of hours; turning the tank lighting on then off then on again is bad for the fish.

There must be a period of several hours of total darkness, meaning no room lights outside the tank; this is the "night" to the fish and plants when they "rest up" so to speak. No "moonlight" tank lighting, just complete blackness. There needs to be several hours, and again in one period each 24 hours. For most people, this would probably be from 11 pm or midnight until dawn.

The period in between the "daylight" and "night" are comparable to dusk and dawn in the habitat, and these periods are not as important as the other two.

 

[andy36yr19]

The periods of light and dark are extremely important for fish, because this drives their circadian rhythm (as it does all animals including us) but with fish it is a major aspect of their stress and health because it affects their physiology and metabolism.

Presumably you have the tank lighting on for a period of hours each day for the plants. This is the "daylight" as far as the fish are concerned, whatever the light might be like in the room. It can be a period of say six hours up to eight, or sometimes a bit longer, but algae may become a nuisance if the lighting is on too long. And it must be in one period, remaining on for whatever number of hours; turning the tank lighting on then off then on again is bad for the fish.

There must be a period of several hours of total darkness, meaning no room lights outside the tank; this is the "night" to the fish and plants when they "rest up" so to speak. No "moonlight" tank lighting, just complete blackness. There needs to be several hours, and again in one period each 24 hours. For most people, this would probably be from 11 pm or midnight until dawn.

The period in between the "daylight" and "night" are comparable to dusk and dawn in the habitat, and these periods are not as important as the other two.

Can you make me like an idea of a schedule for the fish. It lights up in the room at 9 am and it gets pitch dark at 6 pm

 

[Byron]

Can you make me like an idea of a schedule for the fish. It lights up in the room at 9 am and it gets pitch dark at 6 pm

You will need to work out the actual light schedule depending upon the specific circumstances but I can give you some guidelines.

First thing to set is the "daylight" period when the tank lighting is on. Plants grow (photosynthesize) during this period, and fish will be more active (you feed them, do water changes and any maintenance during this period). This "daylight" does not really need to be simultaneous with outdoor daylight, provided the "dark night" period is completely dark and at night. Using a timer for the tank lighting is best as then it is consistent every 24-hour cycle. Fish need this, and plants do too though it is less of an issue for plants than it is for fish. Fish will quickly come to "expect" this period.

Most aquarists set the daylight period to be during the time when they are normally home to enjoy the aquarium. So for example, if you are away from say 8 am to 5 pm (school, work, etc) you could have the "daylight" period start at say 2 pm and end at 10 pm. This is an 8-hour "daylight" and this can fluctuate some depending upon the intensity of the tank light, algae, etc.

The room must have ambient light when the tank lighting comes on, and when it goes out. Never have either occur in a totally dark room. Daylight entering via windows, or artificial lighting such as lamps, provide this ambient light. A sudden change from total darkness to tank lighting, or the reverse, is extremely stressful to fish. So in the above example, if the tank light is timed to go off at 10 pm, the ambient room lighting should remain on for about an hour following this, say 11 pm.

 

[andy36yr19]

So I use window light for daylight and do I use a moonlight after darkness? And how long should darkness be?

 

[Byron]

So I use window light for daylight and do I use a moonlight after darkness? And how long should darkness be?

Not sure we are on the same page, so will explain further. "Daylight" when in citation marks in my previous post referred to the period when the tank lighting is on. This is "day" to the fish (and plants). You mentioned plants, so you will need some type of artificial lighting over the tank because daylight entering the room is not sufficient intensity.

Darkness means when there are no lights or daylight entering the room and it is as close to pitch black as possible; you would not be able to see much standing in the room. Total darkness, which must be several hours. This depends upon the daylight entering the room in the early morning obviously, and any artificial light such as lamps after it is dark outside. "Darkness" is no light at all.

You could use the "moonlight" setting of your tank lighting in the evening, after the main tank light is out and before the period of total darkness. But this moonlight light must not be on during the total darkness period.

 

[andy36yr19]

Not sure we are on the same page, so will explain further. "Daylight" when in citation marks in my previous post referred to the period when the tank lighting is on. This is "day" to the fish (and plants). You mentioned plants, so you will need some type of artificial lighting over the tank because daylight entering the room is not sufficient intensity.

Darkness means when there are no lights or daylight entering the room and it is as close to pitch black as possible; you would not be able to see much standing in the room. Total darkness, which must be several hours. This depends upon the daylight entering the room in the early morning obviously, and any artificial light such as lamps after it is dark outside. "Darkness" is no light at all.

You could use the "moonlight" setting of your tank lighting in the evening, after the main tank light is out and before the period of total darkness. But this moonlight light must not be on during the total darkness period.

Ok thank you but how many hours of total darkness?

 

[AbbeysDad]

Ok thank you but how many hours of total darkness?

6-8 hours