Narwhal

Could fish be stressed when you turn on the light? It's a sudden burst of light and I don't know if that could affect the fish.

dee34

the light might startle the fish at first but shouldnt stress them out . what kind of lights do u have ?

Narwhal

Fluorescent.

dee34

was just wondering what lights u had .

Narwhal

So it will spook them, but not hurt them. Am I correct? In my 10 gallon, I'd take off the lid, turn on the light, and then put it slowly back on to the tank.

dee34

the fish will be fine , would it be possible to put the lights on a timer so u wouldnt have to take the lid off ?

Narwhal

What do you mean timer? So I can turn a dial to slowly turn on or off the light? That would be great.

Nutter

The fish won't be bothered too much by the lights going on & off. Dee means an automatic timer so that the lights switch themselves on & off everyday at the same time. Should cost you aobut $5 from your local hardware store. That way you don't need to worry about forgetting to turn the lights on & off as well as the fish getting used to exactly when to expect the lights to come on. Fish have great body clocks & can notice a difference of even 5mins in thier day length.

Narwhal

Oh, I guess I'll get one for my new tank. The lid on my 20 gallon is too big to lift every day, but I'm fine with the 10 gallon.

dee34

hi narwhal just wondering if u got a timer for ur tank ?

Amanda

It's generally recommended that you turn on a room light first before turning on your tank light. Your mom coming in your dark room & flipping on a very bright light is similar to what you're doing to your fish.
I always turn on a lamp, hall light or something that shines a little light in the tank first. Then I'll turn on the tank lights after a minute or so.

dee34

thats a good point amanda !

Narwhal

That's what I do, but light doesn't really get into the 20 gallon as well as the 10 gallon.

dee: Not yet.

Narwhal

I have a timer now, and my fish don't like the light. I personally think it's too bright. They cluster together and flip out sometimes. I need to add a cave so they don't have to be in the light all the time. It's only on for an hour. Originally it was on for 4 hours, but they didn't like it so I shortened the time.

gunner13

Your lights should be on for at least 8hours for your fish and plants to flourish.
Nick

Narwhal

I know. I want to get a dimmer light (and/or a different color) and a cave. No good ones at the LFS for caves. Any good sites to buy decorations?