Lights Off

[Falconwithaboxon]

So I have a 29 gallon tank and a few of my fish, my gouramis, platies, and mollies, always charge the glass when I turn my lights off. They are the only fish in my tank that do that so I'm just wondering if that's normal behavior for them. They've been doing that since I got the tank about 2 months ago. Sometimes they hit the glass and sometimes they stop just short. Could this be an issue or is this fairly normal?

 

[AilyNC]

@Colin_T has good advice about lights and turning room light on first to give fish chance to adjust to light.

 

[Colin_T]

Stress from tank lights coming on when the room is dark can be an issue. Fish don't have eyelids and don't tolerate going from complete dark to bright light (or vice versa) instantly.

In the morning open the curtains or turn the room light on at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the tank light on. This will reduce the stress on the fish and they won't go from a dark tank to a bright tank instantly.

At night turn the room light on and then turn the tank light off. Wait at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the room light out. This allows the fish to settle down for the night instead of going from a brightly lit tank to complete darkness instantly.

 

[Falconwithaboxon]

Stress from tank lights coming on when the room is dark can be an issue. Fish don't have eyelids and don't tolerate going from complete dark to bright light (or vice versa) instantly.

In the morning open the curtains or turn the room light on at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the tank light on. This will reduce the stress on the fish and they won't go from a dark tank to a bright tank instantly.

At night turn the room light on and then turn the tank light off. Wait at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the room light out. This allows the fish to settle down for the night instead of going from a brightly lit tank to complete darkness instantly.

Okay that's what what I do in the morning, although not on purpose it just kinda happens lol

I'll keep that in mind at night, it makes sense that the sudden light change would be an issue.

Aside from them charging the glass when I shut the lights off at night, they don't appear to have any other issues. They're all active and colorful and I want them to stay that way so I'll start doing the light thing.

Thank You!