Do my fish need lights?

[Redearsunfish]

Bright light in freshwater set ups is good for viewing, and plants, otherwise i'm not sure its ever required. Having said that, i'm not an expert in light requirements for freshwater fish. Having said that, i've successfully kept many a tank with just ambient lighting

 

[kevinfleming21]

The only problem that presents itself with natural sunlight, not necessarily ambient lighting, is that algae will grow at a much faster rate that with artificial light.

 

[PostalPenguin]

Is there any research that shows fish need light for Vitamin D? I ask because humans synthesize vitamin D using UV light. And water is extremely poor transmitter of UV light meaning that in the wild where water is usually turbid, fish are unlikely to get any UV exposure unless they sit at the very surface where they may be attacked by predators.

I suspect that fish will do fine in the dark.

 

[aquaculture]

cool

 

[pcfriedrich]

cool

I know this is off topic, but man, that has got to be one of the ugliest dogs I've ever seen.

 

[aquaculture]

Its a pic of my white boxer pearl, after she got covered in mud.