leaving the light on

[tankbusterlover]

Hi,

Is there a problem with my father leaving the light on all the time. In the day to see the fish and at night as a nightlight. It uses two 15w incadescent light bulb.

There is not algea grow at the moment. It's stocked with zebra danios both regular Zebra and also some long fin leopard danio.

We may have done a mistake stocking the tank. While we like the danios. They costenly swim and put a lot of life in the tank. They closely following each other.

There's a lack of color. It's all drab looking. If we had choosen platy,guppies or chery barb there would have been fish of different colors.

Also all the fish look alike unless you're close enought to see the zebra and the leopard.

 

[tlindsey]

Hi,

Is there a problem with my father leaving the light on all the time. In the day to see the fish and at night as a nightlight. It uses two 15w incadescent light bulb.

There is not algea grow at the moment. It's stocked with zebra danios both regular Zebra and also some long fin leopard danio.

We may have done a mistake stocking the tank. While we like the danios. They costenly swim and put a lot of life in the tank. They closely following each other.

There's a lack of color. It's all drab looking. If we had choosen platy,guppies or chery barb there would have been fish of different colors.

Also all the fish look alike unless you're close enought to see the zebra and the leopard.

View attachment 1273291

Personally would suggest putting lights on a timer fish need rest .

 

[kno4te]

I have a feeling the light on all the time will disrupt their normal behavior. They need a period of night time. But not sure and I assume.

A timer will help w/o having to worry about it like tlindsey mentioned.

 

[J. H.]

I have kept fish with 24/7 lights with no issues. It may not be the best, but I don't think it will cause any harm. You could throw in a couple of smaller rainbowfish, honey blue eyes, barbs, rasboras or livebearers without effecting bioload much. They will school with the danios after their own fashion, and add some interest and color.

 

[duanes]

All living things need to rest, and because fish don't have eye lids, the only way they can, is when the sun goes goes down.
Although no obvious problems may be noticed, the stress of never being able to rest may cause chronic issues, and shorten the life of rather short lived species.
Here in the tropics, day/night patterns are regular, and quite dramatic.

 

[Zanson]

Fish are living beings, all living things need rest at some point. Please don't run your lights 24/7, they need rest like anything else.

 

[jeaninel]

I agree about a dark period being needed for fish. I also think that with lights on 24/7 you will eventually have algae problems.

 

[RD.]

I agree with others, my fish room has a small LED night light in a back corner that allows just enough light to simulate moonlight. I would think that direct overhead light 24/7 such as on your set up would be at least somewhat stressful to most fish.

 

[Allan01230]

Yes by all means give that at least 8 hours of no light fish don't need light ever they would prefer it without extra lighting Lighting is only there for the hobbyist to see the fish

 

[Drstrangelove]

I think there is an enormous diversity of how animals rest (or sleep.)

According to at least 2 studies fish have circadian rhythms. And in laboratory settings, fish that are under constant lighting do show repeated periods of minimal activity, simulating "rest."


-Some animals sleep in the day, others at night; some the reverse; some only are awake at dawn and dusk.

-Giraffes and horse sleep around 2 hours a day, bats almost 20

-As far as people know, some pelagic schooling fish and some sharks don't ever sleep

-There are birds that sleep while they are flying (over the ocean nonetheless)

-Cows sleep with their eyes open

-Some whales sleep while swimming

-Bottlenose dolphins sleep with one side of their brain awake, and then swap sides

-Ducks, Pigeons, Flamingos also sleep with one half of the brain awake

-And not only because of the diversity above, but as fish lack a neocortex, I'm not certain we know what exactly sleep or rest is for them.


Otoh, we know that many fish are not constantly active even with lights on. Maybe they don't need sleep, but need rest, and maybe they can rest just fine with lights on.


http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2000-08/965504574.Zo.r.html
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-whales-and-dolphin/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_in_fish