Lighting Making Fish Nervous

[Langemc]

Maybe this is a dumb question but everytime i turn my light on to my tank (which is only a few times a day to view the fish) my tetra's especially go nuts, im afraid their gonna have a heart attack everytime i do it, should i be leaving the light on throughout the day to get the accumstomed to it?

 

[fishygurl]

Why do you only turn the lights on a couple of times a day? Try turning the lights in the room on first. THen the tank lights a few minutes later.

 

[Langemc]

do most people leave the tank light on for the day?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I have an automatic timer on mine, turns on at 8:30am and off at 9:00pm.
I leave mine on all day, yes.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I have my tanks on timers also. They are on all day long. I believe they come on at 9 AM and off at noon then back on at 1:00 until 8:30. Fish need light to promote their coloration. That is why some fish will be dull in coloration in the morning, but after about an hour of the light being on they will turn their brilliant coloration.

The sudden light will startle fish. Try turning on the light in the room for about 20 minutes. Then turn on the tank light. For my 55 gal tank, it has two light strips. I have one side turn on then 15 minutes later the other side turns on.

 

[QTOFFER]

Even before I got live plants, I had all my tanks on a timer for 8 hours a day. Fish have circadian rhythms and don't behave normally if they don't have a regular light/dark cycle.

Do you have any shaded places for them to hide? Smaller fish like your tetras appreciate bushy plants, floating plants, and decor they can hide in/under.

 

[malkore]

do most people leave the tank light on for the day?

Yes. Fish need a day/night cycle, just like humans. Without it, their brains get confused.
Best bet is to buy a cheap $5 lamp timer at a place like WalMart, then set it up to run the light 8-10 hours a day. Most of my tanks start turning on around 11am, and off at 10pm, but my tanks all have live plants which need extra photoperiod.