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24 hour lighting?

zendog

Active Member
I have a pair of Wallaceochromis Signatus that have spawned and are now ushering the fry around the tank. There is a C. Leopardus in with them that they keep chasing up to the top of the sponge filter and 5 African glass cats they keep up in the corner.

I've been keeping the light on 24 hrs a day since I expect the cats may get the fry if I let it go dark. It is just a single fluorescent filtering down through a layer of duckweed, so not very bright.

I expect it would be better to give them a period of darkness, but I've done this with a few fish when I thought tank mates would eat fry and haven't seen any issues.

Am I missing anything? Are there studies that show this is a problem?
 

Hannibal

Members
I have a 10 gallon endler tank, filled with plants including duckweed floating on the top. The only time the light is off is when the power is out or the light burns out. Tank has been running for 2 years now and the LED replacement bulb has been going strong for a while now. They still breed like crazy and I have not noticed any ill effects from always having the light on.
 

FishEggs

Well-Known Member
I have a 10 gallon endler tank, filled with plants including duckweed floating on the top. The only time the light is off is when the power is out or the light burns out. Tank has been running for 2 years now and the LED replacement bulb has been going strong for a while now. They still breed like crazy and I have not noticed any ill effects from always having the light on.
Why do you always have the light on?
 

Hannibal

Members
Why do you always have the light on?

I have a "window" between my kitchen and dining room where the tank sits. There isn't room for me to plug in a bulky timer so it just stays plugged in and on. I suppose I could turn it on and off but we have become accustom to having it on at night as it is helpful for letting the dogs out in the middle of the night.
 

Pat Kelly

CCA Member
Staff member
I agree with Matt. While it gets dark in the wild, there is usually something like the moon that put a little light in. Plus most of our fish have never been in the wild. They are raised in tanks or ponds and usually some light can be seen somewhere. Lights in the room or the near the ponds so they can make sure something is not getting into the pond to eat the fish at night.

This may sound stupid but I leave a night light on 24 hours a day in the fish room.
I have less problems when I do. Less jumpers. I think in total darkness two fish drift into each other and get surprised? No point of reference in the tank?

When I take fish to a convention and house them overnight in the room I have to
keep a light on them.
If I do then they are quiet all night.
If I don't then all night long you hear them hitting the sides of the container, the lid and there is splashing This usually occurs just as the wife is drifting off to sleep and she in turn jumps. This may sound funny but Then I don't get sleep because she is yelling at the fish to go to sleep. LOL
If I put a couple small led flashlights on a couple of the lids so that there is a glow through out the containers and then I put a towel on top so I can sleep too.
 

chriscoli

Administrator
I keep a few nightlights in my fishroom too. I could probably use more just for a little background light.
 

zendog

Active Member
Thank you all for your thoughts. So far I've left the light on and all is well. The tank is one of 4 15-gallon tanks that are short-side-out on a shelf, and the light on this tank also covers the 15-gallon beside it that has baby Calvus growing up. So far it has been 24-7 light for over a month and everything seems fine. The fry are growing and I don't seem to be loosing any more than I think I might otherwise. The Calvus in the second tank are just as piggy as ever.

I did remove the Corydoras Leapardus that was getting beat up. He was hiding at the top of a sponge filter and just about swam into my hand when I offered him relocation services. The Wallaceochromis are still dashing out to harras the group of 5 pareutropius buffei catfish, but they are staying near the top and are quite fast so I don't see them getting any damage. I'd try to catch them out, but they are so fast I'm worried about disturbing the fry too much.

I had read somewhere about someone keeping the lights on 24-7 on his fry tanks and feeding them 4 times a day to get them to grow faster. An interesting idea, but I'm not sure if it is a good one or not. It would be interesting to experiment with two similar tanks of fish, ideally with a shared water supply, giving one a regular light cycle and one 24-7 and see how growth rates, general health, etc. differ.

I agree with the idea of keeping some "night" lighting on for a fish room. When I had a group of Xenotilapia in a tank in my basement, whenever someone would flip on the lights and it had been dark, you would hear them plink off the glass top. If I had kept a night light I might not of lost the few that found the small gaps near the filter return and wound up dried up on the floor.
 

chriscoli

Administrator
So, let me ask a follow-up question. I did some quick searching on Google about night lights in the fish room. What are people's opinions on the following two aspects of night lighting:
1. varying illumination to simulate the phase of the moon. important or not for the type of fish we keep?
2. spectrum. I had read that blue (or blue-ish) lights were used, does it matter?
 

dogofwar

CCA Members
Dangling bare bulb, I think, is best ;)

So, let me ask a follow-up question. I did some quick searching on Google about night lights in the fish room. What are people's opinions on the following two aspects of night lighting:
1. varying illumination to simulate the phase of the moon. important or not for the type of fish we keep?
2. spectrum. I had read that blue (or blue-ish) lights were used, does it matter?
 

chriscoli

Administrator
So, let me ask a follow-up question. I did some quick searching on Google about night lights in the fish room. What are people's opinions on the following two aspects of night lighting:
1. varying illumination to simulate the phase of the moon. important or not for the type of fish we keep?
2. spectrum. I had read that blue (or blue-ish) lights were used, does it matter?

Matt, that is so you.
 
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