How Long Should My Betta Sleep?

Hey!

I have my betta Chucho in his 3 gallon filtered and 78F consistent temp, and I was wondering how much time his light should be on in each day. I'm getting back into school soon, and I have two options: Either turn his light on at 6 and turn it off like at 8-10 or turn it on once I get back to school (3ish) and turn it off before going to sleep, which would be 10-12.

Thanks to everybody!

Gustavo

 

I would do the 3 to 10 schedule that way you can spend more time watching him. Cause with the other light schedule you may be too tempted to turn the lights back on which in turn could cause Algae issues. Pics?

 

I would suggest you get a light timer to automatically turn on and off the lights for you on a schedule. If you can't, I would suggest you do the latter option.

 

Do you have live plants? If not, I personally don't think it matters to the betta how long the light is on, provided it's not 24/7. Only issue would be potential algae. I've kept fish without lights and the fish didn't care one way or the other. Fish don't necessarily "sleep" when it's dark or at night like us, not in aquariums, at least in my experience. They'll just appreciate not having a light on them all the time. You'll probably have light coming into your room during the day anyway, and less light at night. I feel like that's enough, but maybe others know something I don't or have other experiences.

 

Ok, thanks! Doing the 3-10. Algae is a bit of a problem for me since I have an artificial sand substrate and algae tends to grow on the gravel and make it look dirty. Thanks again.