Is It Important.................

[Jim1984]

to switch the light on and off at the same time each day?

Also im worried about one of my zebra danios, i have 3 in my new tank and 2 are fine but one just hides away in a this rock cave i have for hours, spends more time in there than outside. Is this normal?

 

[mattlee]

to switch the light on and off at the same time each day?

Also im worried about one of my zebra danios, i have 3 in my new tank and 2 are fine but one just hides away in a this rock cave i have for hours, spends more time in there than outside. Is this normal?

Hi, if you buy a timer switch for the lights then you dont have to worry about turning them on and off as it will do it for you.

ive never kept danios but i would say its not normal for 1 to hide away... what are the water stats? have you tested them recently?

are they new fish for you or have you had them a while? if they are new then it could just be getting used to its new home.

 

[shelaghfishface]

you dont need to be spot on with the lights but obviously too much wll cause problems, fish dont need the lights, the plants and we do to veiw them.also try turning the room lights on 10 mins before the tank lights, this will eliminate stress caused by sudden high lighting.. and yes i also agree that to have just the one hiding isnt normal.. any signs of sickness or bullying? and of course like mattlee says get the tests done asap .. they can uncover all sorts in minutes
keep us posted
shelagh xxx

 

[plecostomus-mad]

i have had danios and neons, i always had one that was hiding away. it was due to bullying i think, i saw the same one/s getting attacked etc. they did die, not sure what from. probably stress?

 

[grumpysteve]

danios are shoaling fish, so if its possible you should get a few more, that should make the nervous one happier to come out and be with his tank mates, and will help stop too much bullying.

checking your water chem is the first thing to try though

 

[JoolsA2]

I agree with grumpysteve. You should get atleast 3 more to keep them happy.

 

[Bignose]

you dont need to be spot on with the lights but obviously too much wll cause problems, fish dont need the lights,

This isn't quite right. Fish do need Vitamin D, and an important source of Vitamin D can be self-synthesis which needs light to be performed. How important self-synthesis is to the fish's needs are going to be dependent on what food you are feeding them and the species; however, without no light, they won't be able to self-synthesize the vitamin. So, again, saying they don't need the lights isn't quite right.

In response to the OP, I do recommend a timer as one of the above responses gave. It is nice to not have to worry about it. That said, I really wouldn't get too worked up over the lights going on and off at different times. In nature there are cloudy days and of course the sun rises and sets at slightly different times each day anyway, so it really cannot be all that bad.

 

[spectrum]

I think some fish get put of spawning (rams as far as I know) If the lighting times are too different each day (Correct me if I'm wrong). But I don't think it would seriously affect them if it was slightly out each day. Hope this helps

 

[Bignose]

I think some fish get put of spawning (rams as far as I know) If the lighting times are too different each day (Correct me if I'm wrong). But I don't think it would seriously affect them if it was slightly out each day. Hope this helps

There are some fish species that will be triggered by photoperiod (how long the day is) or angle of the sun. However, these are typically not tropical fish because in the tropics, the length of the day is not changed as much with time of year, nor is the angle the sun makes. Non-tropical fish can be triggered because nature needs them to spawn at the right time of the year to give their offspring the best chance to live. I.e. if the fry are just maturing as the body of water freezes over, that probably isn't a great strategy.

 

[Jim1984]

Thanks for all the advice on the lights. I have a 15w t8 bulb which came with the tank and it does seem quite bright so I have been switching the lights in the room on before turning it off, so it isn’t so much of a shock. I like the point about being similar to nature, I forget sometimes that these fish are in the wild and therefore there natural environment needs to be created as much as possible.

As for the shy little danio, he or she has been improving gradually. They are new to the tank. It’s a long story because I got the tank as a package for my birthday and it came with an elite stingray 15 filter. I fell into the trap of buying 3 fish to cycle my tank on the bad advice of my LFS. After 5 or 6 days of testing the water (Liquid test kit) I noticed no sign of an ammonia peak so I asked about and on the forum for reasons why and discovered that the filter media contained Zeolite. I was advised by lots of people to remove this and add a new filter media which I have done, I used filter floss. It has sponges for the first two sections and the filter floss as a final filter. This is now the 3rd day of the "new filter".

I did a test to see if this was effecting the shy fish and found a high level of Nitrite so I did a 50% water change immediately and a good clean, I washed the media filter in the old tank water and kept in there until it was ready to go back, filled it up with dechlorinated water etc and the shy fish was much happier. However he is still going in to hiding now and again and I think he may be getting slightly bullied by the biggest of the three fish.

I am hoping to get 3 more danios in the future, that was the plan all along but I didn’t want to over load the tank until the cycle is complete. I’m thinking of getting leopard Danios or blue. Am I right in thinking all species of Danios will school together as one?

I wish I had done a fishless cycle I’m gutted I didn’t read the forums before I bought the fish, I read leaflets and checked websites but none mentioned the fishless cycle.

I’m still slightly concerned that the ammonia still hasn’t picked it’s a steady 0. The only rise was in the nitrite and the Nitrate level is the same that comes in the tap water. I’m checking everyday so hopefully it'll happen soon so the fish can get some more mates.

 

[grumpysteve]

you shouldn't really rinse filter media during cycling, all you're doing is getting rid of any bacteria that may have developed.
i've read that different danio's will shoal together, but i've also heard that that's a bit of a wives tail so i'd go for more of the same, plus it will look better IMO