Light

[lainey_g]

Okay, I just set up my saltwater tank. I just put in fish yesterday, two little clownfish. My question is, should I be turning off the lights at night so they can sleep? Sorry if the answer is obvious, but when I turned off the lights the first time, my fish went nuts! They both swam into their fake anemone and looked like they were gonna have heart attacks!!

 

[SkiFletch]

yeah, putting your lights on a timer to mimic natural sunlight hours is the way to go. the different behavior is probably normal as reefs are much different places at night versus during daylight. I dont know much about how clownfish behavior differs, but different is usually normal.

 

[steelhealr]

How did you cycle your tank? Just curious. The fish need time off from lighting or they will get stressed. 8-12 hours off. SH

 

[Navarre]

Yep thre needs to be a lights off time for the tank or at least a moonlit period. My old tank never went completely i nto darkness as i would have moonlights operating all night but i see no problem in having the tank in complete darkness either, it happens in the wild so it should be no diffferent here either )

 

[k.o.d]

You need different intensities of light to mimic daylight/dusk/night but another problem you will soon encounter if you keep your lights on for long periods is algae.
The fish went nuts for the same reason you would if you suddenly put a huge floodlight on you while you were asleep.
We switch the actinics on first, then 1 hour later one of the daylight tubes comes on then 1/2 later the remaining daylight tubes come on, and in the evening the reverse happens, there is then a couple of hours with actinics only on for a blue evening light appearance then 10 hours with the lights off

 

[Aquascaper]

They both swam into their fake anemone and looked like they were gonna have heart attacks!!

This is pretty normal for Clowns, when the lights go off (especially if it plunges the tank into darkness rather than staged) they will look for their host and burrow into it, as they would in the wild with their anenome. Mine do this after the actinics go off, the only problem is their host is a Sacrophyton coral that retracts its tentacles at night so they just end up having a rub then they swim underneath it to sleep.

 

[lainey_g]

Thanks for all the replies!! I don't have very fancy lighting so what I do is open the curtain near the tank (I work overnights so I go to bed at noon) and while that light is shining through, I turn off the aquarium lights...I try to make it as gradual as possible. I sleep anywhere between 8-9 hours in my pretty dark room, and the anemone has a faint glow to it in the dark. I have yet to see my fishies sleep but I'm watching.

Here's a picture: