Do You Use Night Lighting In Your Fish Tank

[Livewire88]

I was thinking of adding some night light to 2 of my tanks, reason being is that both these tanks are in pitch black during the night.

Surely the fish must bash into things and I feel sorry for them I would assume that in the wild fish have a certain amount of light during the night so this is why I am interested to know who uses night lights and who does not.

If I were to add a night light I would just buy a cheap small LED strip to just give a very small amount of light during the night, are there any other options for night lights?

Cheers
Dan

 

[tomtomtom1230]

Do the fish/plants get night-lighting in the wild?

If I was going to use night lighting, though I think I would use small, blue LED's. Only just enough to get light to reach the bottom of the tank.

 

[ZoddyZod]

I do.....but only for 2hrs after the main lights go off. I feel it gives the fish a more gradual descent into darkness......but who knows if they actually care or benefit!

....does give me a couple of viewing hours into the night though.

Do the fish/plants get night-lighting in the wild?

depends on the setting. A full moon can give a fair amount of light into shallow water, but it's probably nowhere near as bright as the dimmest LEDs that we use.

 

[Livewire88]

Do the fish/plants get night-lighting in the wild?

If I was going to use night lighting, though I think I would use small, blue LED's. Only just enough to get light to reach the bottom of the tank.

Yeah they would get some light from the Moon (as long as its not cloudy) lol

 

[tomtomtom1230]

Do the fish/plants get night-lighting in the wild?

If I was going to use night lighting, though I think I would use small, blue LED's. Only just enough to get light to reach the bottom of the tank.

Yeah they would get some light from the Moon (as long as its not cloudy) lol

I imagine they do but very, very, very little. Not enough to light the substrate. And only if there are no trees overhead. Many tropical fish species come from rivers. plecos, cories, danios and lots of loaches. Around the said rivers would be heavy over-hanging vegetation I imagine. Especially for those species that come from Brazil or the Amazon.

You get the point, anyway

 

[FishBlast]

There is a night light in my room but it's not above or right next to the tank, however it does provide a bit of light, very dim and it's green. My fish seem to prefer sleeping in the lit area instead of the darker one.

I don't have neons installed yet (although I do use a smaller neon put to the side of the tank during the day for the plant since it seems daylight isn't enough) but once I get my lid done, I'll install bigger neons at the top.

 

[twingogeekeo]

My day lighting turns on at 6am goes off 8 hours later. Then the night lighting comes on at 6.30pm and goes off at 10pm

 

[james_fish]

My old tank had a night light. I don't have one on my current setup though.

James.

 

[Curiosity101]

Most fish (except nocturnals of course), tend to become less active at night anyways. Based on the various nature programmes I've seen it's alot to do with night time predators and a mixture of them hunting by movement and most 'prey' fish not having good enough eye sight in the dark.

Eitherways when I have a nosey into the tank at night at least a few hours after lights out I never get the fish coming up to me. I can see them so presumably they can see me/the shape of me. I don't think its really something you need to worry about.

 

[Primous]

Guys...

Fish sleep. Without it they can become "sick overtime" and I got that from "David Attenborough" when I was about 12. Using moons/led for a few hours after lights go out is one thing but to illuminate the tank 24/7 is another.

 

[KISSfn]

Only from 8 to 10pm. Since my fish don't have eyelids I'm sure they appreciate the darkness to sleep.