Ok this question may be stupid...

[ThatDarnDragon]

Does the lights have an effect on the fish's activity? If you have read my 'emergancy' post, I noticed now the lights been on for awhile, all the fish are active and swimming about, incliding the clowns I thought were dying.

The tank is in my room, and I couldnt sleep with the light on, so I turned light off. I checked on about 2 am and saw there was very little life and the clowns ontop, appearing to be struggling near the filter. They stayed there all night.

So if the lighting is what caused the stillness of the fish, Im ok, right?

 

[The-Wolf]

Fish, like us, need a light and dark period.
Tank lights should only be on for the daytime, in the
night time they should be off. I normally turn my lights
on 1 hr after waking and off 1 hr before bed.
HTH

 

[ThatDarnDragon]

Thanks me being new to salt water fish, didnt think that they actually 'sleep'.. and with the clowns look like they're struggling made me think otherwise.

I feel better, lol. You guys will be seeing alot of me until I get more experienced with these fish. You all are my masters. hehehehehe, sorry.

 

[Navarre]

I have my lights on fro m11am to 10pm at night. The fish need this dark perios as has been mentioned as this is what happens in their natural environment. I do run moonlight at night so that there is a tiny amount of light entering the tank but this is because a reef is very seldom in complete darkness and fish can actually see at night if they have to bolt from one rock to another.

Clownfish will retreat to a place they feel safe at night. This is usually at the top corner of a tank near an overflow or filter outlet. They look like they are struggling but this is their natural way or resting during the night. My 2 clowns actaully hug a falt piece of rock at night and swim in the same spot like their life depended on it (even though the water flow in this area is actually quite low) )