light on at night or not??????

[!guppy!]

i was thinking, do i keep my fish tank light on at night or not??? what do u ppl do???

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Off, fish need the dark too. It's more natural and also is important for noctural fish and plants.

 

[!guppy!]

thats wot i thort, i always turn off, only thing i wondered was they seam2 go crazye for 5mins wen i turn off then there ok

 

[smithrc]

iff you can - turn the lights off gradually... eg tank off but room still on then room off... see what i mean.

 

[Aquascaper]

Best thing to do would be to get a timer switch so that you can programme when the lights come on and turn off. Ideally the tank should be lit between 8 - 10 hours per day but this varies on where the tank is positioned, etc. One of my 30g's is in a dark corner so it gets 10 hours, the other is near to a window so it gets more natural light and therefore has 8 hours.

HTH

 

[Narayan]

Thats usefull to know , as I sometimes leave my tank lights on. Especially if I go out and am not expecting to come home.

Does it really harm them though?

 

[FishDan]

No it won't harm the fish if the lights are on occassionally all day. It may stress them if the lights are on 24 hours a day every day. I don't turn my lights off at night, because that is when I am home. I have timer that turns the lights off at about 4:00 am and then on again at about 4:00 pm. The fish get total darkness for only a few hours during the summer (more during the winter). They then get a lot of "dusk" time as the room starts to get brighter in the morning, and eventually when I open the shades. What is important for the fish is a schedule, with consistant lights on and lights off time. I don't believe the fish need total darkenss, but they do need a period of near darkness to reduce stress and feel more comfortable.

\Dan

 

[dan dan the fish man]

i have my tank on for 11 hours its good for the fish to get some rest and also plants to philosophizes

 

[Aquascaper]

As mentioned above the length of 'lights-on' time is up to personal preference as long as the fish have some 'night time', there's no point in keeping fish if you can't see them
The only thing that may be affected by having lights on for long periods is the build up of algae. If you see lots of build up, shorten the time that the lights are on, this usually helps.

 

[!guppy!]

thanks for the help guys

 

[andieschweigert]

fish like to have time when ppl arent constantly lookin at them.. also my peacock eel comes out only at night