turning off the light , is it good?

Question

i got a 55 gallon tank w/ 1 bala shark, 1 columbian catfish, 4 black skirt tetras, 1 pleco, and 1 knife fish.. everyday the light on my tank is off. i only turn it on when i feed them or during Friday cuz there are visitors in our house , do u think my fishes are comfortable this way? well i know the pleco and knife fish likes it , but what about the others?

Answer 1

You should have a timer on your light to turn on and off the same time every day. Just like in the wild, the sun comes up and goes down. especially if your tank is in an area where the sun doesnt get to it. fish sleep too.

Answer 2

Turning the light on could cause the tank to overheat. Only turn the light on when you have visitors or during feeding time. They like it during feeding time, because they know when food is coming. I always turn my light on a few minutes before I give them food, and after awhile it became a learned behavior to come to the top and get their food. I would do that.

I don't think fish really care whether the light is on or not... only if the tank is heated up.

Answer 3

You need to turn the light off when it's dark outside. Fish need it to be dark the same amount of time that people do. If you have especially aggressive fish, you may need to still turn off the lights when you feed them, but keep them on during regular daylight hours, and turn them off at night.

By the way...I have a knife fish too and he likes the light. Yours may have just become accustomed to the dark. Work the light back into his routine...it's better for them.

Answer 4

the light is only on the tank for the people to see, not the fish. having the light on too long will also create algae. I keep the light on in my tank only for a couple of hours in the evening.

Answer 5

They probably don't notice any difference. My mom has a really big aquarium, and she leaves the light on during the night, and turns it off during the day, unless someone is looking at the tank, then she will turn on the light.

Answer 6

As long as you don't have any real plants in there, and there is residual light from windows or lamps (as long as the room isn't completely dark), they should be fine. The lights generally are there for our purposes, so that we can see the fish better. Lights also enhance the colors of certain fish (like your black skirts).

I bet you have absolutely no problems with algae - I'm jealous. :-P

Answer 7

You should have the light on when it is day time and off when it is night time. In the water, they have the same light schedule as us humans. Would you like to walk around in the dark all day long? Turn it on during the day, and keep it off at night.

Answer 8

Fish need light and dark.This is what we do. We turn our lights on in the day and turn them off at night.Fish need the light in the day and they need sleep at night.So when we go to bed we turn the lights off.In the morning when we get up we turn on the lights and feed them.

Answer 9

I would have to reccommend a timer. my aunt grows coral and has gone so far as to program a day light timer and also a moonlight timer that changes with the lunar phases. all of the species of fish and coral are native to hawaii, so all of her lighting corresponds to where the animals all came from.

Answer 10

I just learned that u are supposed to give them a sense of day and night. It is good to give them light during the daytime and darkness at night. This gives them the sense of their real environment.