Lights on 24/7

[yh88]

Does it hurt the fish in the tank if the lights are on 24/7?

[sharn]

i would think so, they are like humans in the fact they need 'down time', i dont know if they actually 'sleep' but they definatly go into some sort of relaxed state in the dark, just my two cents

hope that helps

[Tsarmina]

i'm sure the algae would absolutely love it, not sure on the fish though

[fishboi]

i do agree with sharn.

fish need their rest too as so do alot of plants.

my Krib parents rear their babys back in to the cave at nite so i guess their sleeping :-?

and i notice alot of plants close their leafs at nite too.

[alanmin4304]

fishboi, have you noticed that many plants close their leaves at night regardless of the lights being on or off. I have low wattage pilot lights that stay on all the time so the fish don't get such a fright when the main lights go on. I am sure the fish would prefer a time of twilight or night.

[Caryl]

Let the poor fishes sleep some time!

[SpidersWeb]

Yeah they need sleep.

I give them a bit of 'twilight' as well. Normally I give mine 14 hours of fluro light, and about 2 hours of just house lights, and 8 hours of sleep in the dark. Its not a hard schedule, but I try to stick to it.

My little Firemouths have a special colour pattern they only seem to display when sleeping, kind of like pyjamas, cracks me up.

[Caper]

my Krib parents rear their babys back in to the cave at nite so i guess their sleeping

That is soooooo cute

Keep in mind I have no plants but I have my lights on timers regardless.

[jamestothemax]

yeah i agree with the others you definately need the lights off some time.

If not the fish will become all stressed and insomniatic, a lot like humans. only thing is we have eye lids so can just close our eyes for dark but fish don't have them so can't do this.

I'd imagine your algae will go nuts as well and remembering tubes only have a good life span of 9 - 12 months then leaving them on 24/7 will make it less than half that.

The tubes may actually keep turning on for longer than that but after the 12 months or so they deterriorate in light qaulity and will cause even more problems.

and even though you dont have the plants, for the others who noticed that they close up at night im pretty sure its because plants breath just like humans, except they breath out oxygen during the day when the lights are on, and breath in oxygen and exhale CO2 at night.

hence the reason pH drops in planted tanks over night. Thats the same reason why you should always test your pH at midday.

just my little babble......

[Luke*]

In humans immunity is hugely depleted when sleeping with the lights on so I presume fish are similar as they are animals too, but as mentioned don't have eyelids. James you are right about the plants reversal at night, but it is worth noting that at night they don't consume much O2 and release CO2. There is a much bigger occurence during the day of CO2 consumption and expelling of O2.

I leave the light on 24/7 for my discus when feeding off their parents so they can find them and I just dim it at night to allow for a sleep period. The moonlight effect is nice.

[sharn]

i have a nightlight i have to leave on for my oscar, he bangs around the tank at night, scaring fish, himself and moving stuff around. i just dim it with a piece of sheeting. when i turn my room lights off i cant see him, just a shadow moving around the tank so its definatly dim enough for him to sleep but other fish to still 'see' him properly.

i also use a lighting system. curtains open, half an hour later tank lights go on, at night room lights go on and tank lights go off, and about half an hour later i will turn my room light off. alot of fish will use those dimmer periods to do their stuff, alot of cichlids with fry will herd their babies to the right spot for the night when the lights start getting dimmer

[jamestothemax]

Yeah the idea of a low level lighting in the early mornign and late at night is definately a good idea as this replicates natural river conditions much more accurately.

reason being is that with a river flowing through the forest there are quite often trees overhanging and shadowing the river. This is most prominent in early morning and evening because of the suns low level in the sky where as at midday the sun is directly above the river.

Luke: definately know what your saying about the CO2 release at night being way less than the O2 release during the day for plants but it is still an important part of the plants life. Can't keep breathing in without breathing out every now and then hahahahaha