hssea

Does turning the light on and off several times during the day cause any stress to the fish

I've always turned them on in am and off at night , my actual time to see the tank is early am (with my coffee) , mid day and evening (while cooking and afterwards i'll set at the dining table and enjoy after everyone gone to bed). Needless to say my lights are on for 14 ++ hours with no live plants in the tank. So would turning them off and on while im home be ok (3 times a day)

Shawnie

Most tanks n fish dont mind 8-10 hours a day lite...some use less and some use more so I dont think it stresses per say on the amts of times you turn off and on as much as how long or not long there is light...does that make sense? LOL

angelfish220

The transition of light to instant darkness is stressing, but if the room is brightly lit It would be okay.

sirdarksol

Many people set their tanks to have a "dark" period in the middle of the day to break up algae growing time.
This doesn't mean that it isn't stressing, but the ambient light probably helps minimize the stress.

Shawnie

so very true...guess I didnt think that some rooms mite not have light in it..mine are very well lit up before I turn on the lights...hence why I said I didnt think it bothered them...

hssea

thanks for everyone's help. I'll be turning off the tank during the middle of the day with the room lights on

Martinismommy

I turn my lights on and off all day long....The only one who has a constant light on is my salt tank and that goes to a moonlight mode at night....I think if I've if I've noticed anything at all it would be they get excited when the lights go on because they know it is feeding time...

COBettaCouple

Yea, it's best to have ambient light going into the tank when turning the tank lights on or off. Usually a lamp or overhead light, or natural sunlight can do the trick. With our fish, it's an overhead room light.