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I tend to turn the light on in my tank once my fish are awake (acting lively), which is between 5am and 7am, depending when ever I wake up . Then I usually turn it off about 5pm. My tank sits about 6 feet away from a window, but my blinds are usually down if not closed... so it gets a fair share of light. But also to make my fish happy i feed them as soon as I turn the light on. But keep in mind, all my plants are real, so they definately need the light. My fish don't really act much different when i turn the light on... but they will stay lively as long as the light is on. Once I turn the light off they tend to begin settling down, and within a few hours after sun set they are out for the night.

If after a few days of turning on the light your fish still get agitated, I guess I would leave it off too, but make sure the tank still has enough light to let your fish know it is day time. You don;t want your fish being all active and entertaining when you are asleep.

I guess my best advice is to treat your fish like you would treat kids. Try to wake them when u get up, and let them go to bed when you go to bed. After awhile you and your fish will be the the same schedual, which is why you want to have fish, otherwise you could just hang a fish poster on your wall ]!!!!

Np..glad to help..the lutron dimmer is not so cheap..its aroun 40-60$ and up.140$ for a real good one..but that one is used for buildings.
but there are many more dimmers that are cheaper.
The best with this dimmers is that you can save up to 75% power.and its really easy to install.Hope you can reply me later when you have found one..so to see if it works.
then i will buy one

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I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

Cool, thanks for checking that out. Next time I'm feeling ambitious, I'll have to go scout that product out. I think a dimmer will be nice. As of now, I only turn the lights on for when company is over and for the bi-weekly cleanings ... but it spooks the poor fish every time. A dimmer would be so much more gentle.

Me again...i checked it out..yes you can use a dimmer called lutron..this dimmer will work with your fluorescent light

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I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

the dimmer is really easy to putt on..i think it should work with your lights.
But if i was you i should ask someone first..just in case
But i will by one for sure..

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I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

That dimmer could work. Although, I'd have no clue as to how to install something like that. Next time my fiance is bored, I'll bring up that idea. Does a dimmer work with a fluorescent light though? Or would I need a different kind of bulb?

My fish really don't seem to like the lights on, they all get jittery and shy. For now, they are content with natural room light (not direct sunlight). They are very active during the day. And also, they get some artificial light in the evening. They are in darkness (except for a small nightlight in that room) from about 11 pm - 6 am. Seems to work for them. And they know that once those room lights get switched on in the morning, it's feeding time. They eat much more with the hood light off.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Hi..one question...have you tried the light dimmer...with this you can adjust the brightness of the light.

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I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

If your fish seem to react badly to the sudden brightness, praps you should try what im thnking about doing... (Any comments welcome from more experienced keepers welcome!) My lights are on from noon through to midnight. but what im thinking about doing is having one lower watt bulb that comes on an hour before my main lights, and goes off 1 hour later. and reduce my main lights down to about 10/1030 hours a day.

I have a tank with plants and a timer that switches on at [font color="#008000"]10am[/font] and turns off at [font color="#C00000"]9pm[/font]. 11 hours seems to do well for my fishes and plants.

If you don't have any plants and go by the sunlight, its no problem but you may get algae growth as mentioned above.

[span class="edited"][Edited by sly 2004-08-24 19:10][/span]

I'm just going to stick with natural light, my living room is plenty bright enough from sunrise to sunset. I suppose that is all they get in the wild, no light switches out there. And the blind cave fish don't really care either way, so no complaints from them at least. Thank you all so very much for your thoughts on this. Very much appreciated.

Hello? Just get a timer, as other people have suggested. There is no reason to vary the "sunrise" and "sunset".

A timer costs $3.99 at CVS!!!

I'm still learning, so please excuse this question if it may seem silly...Do fish need a certain amount of light? My fish tank gets natural daylight through the house windows/curtains, but I do not use my hood light much (if even at all). The fish seem irritated when I turn on the light (not to mention my one pleco that has what appears to be an epileptic fit for 10 minutes upon clicking on the light) and I almost wonder if the tank light is just for humans. So basically, is regular daylight enough for my fish, or should I turn on the tank light for a few hours in the evening for "additional light"?

What are diatoms?

Sounds kinda like me...I run my lights on my tanks on occasion, but most of the time, everybody chills in darkness...

Less light does cause your algae growth to be substantially less than in most tanks too...only thing to worry about are diatoms, but for some reason, my ottos aren't complaining about those...

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.

Thanks everyone for your replies, which are very helpful. I do not have any live plants or coral in my tank, just keep fake plants. The tank is not getting any direct sunlight, the windows have thick drapes that let in enough light to read by in the daytime. On the rare occasions that I do turn on the hood light, I always have the room lights on well in advance. I think I will reserve the hood light for the occasional viewing when company is over and also during the regular cleanings. The fish seem to like that arrangement, I just wasn't sure if they NEEDED additional light (as a plant would), but it sounds like the natural light is good. They do seem to eat MUCH better at their regular feedings when the lights are off. Everyone comes out of hiding for mealtimes.

I put my lights on a timer so that there is some regularity to the light and dark periods. I agree with the advice of turning on the room lights before turning on the aquarium lights. I try to do that whenever possible, so that the transition is a little less jarring. I've actually considered putting one of the room lights on a timer coordinated with the tank lights so that it works consistently. I think the other important thing to do is to provide some shady spots (caves, shady plant groves, etc) for fish to get out of the lights. This is especially important when you have nocturnal fish.

I keep my lights on for most of the day and evening. I would consider turning on the lights to be like acclimating a new fish to your tank. Every morning I turn the lights on for about 20 minutes before turning on the lights. My fish have gotten used to this. I've also notices that when I turn all my lights out at night, all my fish go to sleep. And when I wake up in the morning, they're all ready for breakfast(except the pleco). Think about it like this: if you were sleeping and someone came in to turn on the lights in your room, wouldn't it stress you out a little? I think so, I know I would be a monster. Also, some fish(like plecos) need the lights to be out at some point because thats when they feel its safe for them to eat. Sunlight also causes a huge potential for unwanted algae. I used to have a tank that had one ray of light from my shades just across the tank which caused algae to grow on that particalar part of the tank.

But really, you never want direct sunlight on your tanks. That will just cause bad algae problems.

fish do need regular intervals of sleep. i've noticed that fish that are provided with enough darkness to sleep, tend to grow faster and bigger than fish that don't.

[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-08-23 21:57][/span]

Agreed. The fish themselves don't care much for light; you only need as much light as you need to see your fish. But anything photosynthetic, be it plant, coral, or clam, should be provided with enough light for their own survival.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.