# Two questions regarding my light fixture.



## IanHulett (Oct 6, 2013)

1) *Should I leave my light off for a while?* My fish are probably tired like crazy because I had to leave the light on 24/7 to keep the temps up. They were probably unable to catch any sleep. Now I got my heater so I'm wondering if I should keep the light off for a while and let them rest?

2) *Now that I got my heater, is it safe to switch to Fluorescent Lights?* The Fluorescent lighting in Freddy's old tank is not keeping heat in the water AT ALL, so I was afraid to switch my community tropical fish to Fluorescent light because of the lack of heat. Now, as you already know, I got them a heater, so I'm wondering if it's safe now. The other reason I was afraid is because of an outbreak of Algae. But that's the least of my worries. I have a fat mystery snail who would be happy to take care of that since I keep forgetting to feed him... poor guy. lol Anyway, so would it be safe to switch? My incandescent's are covered in salt from the salt treatment.

Thanks a bunch.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

The flourescent will be better.You can only turn light on when you are watching fish,they don't much like or need light anyways.Lights on for more than 7 hours may grow algae.


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## IanHulett (Oct 6, 2013)

How do you know if fish are sleeping? Most of my fish are laying still either mid water, or on the substrate. I'm pretty sure they're alive. They're breathing fine, their fins are still wiggling, they're showing no signs of stress. None of them are belly up. They do swim every couple minutes. All that's happening is they're laying still most of the time. Are they catching up on the sleep?


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## jschwabe5 (Nov 26, 2011)

I keep all my tank lights on a timer, fish our like us they prefer a regular schedule, time for activity, feeding and rest. As for fish sleeping, thats a bit difficult. Some fish actually become more active at night or when the lights are out. Other fish may prefer to find a secluded spot in a corner, rest near the bottom, or pick a spot out of the current, and appear to sleep. They can become very still and stay in the same spot for hours. If you were using lights for heating your tank, its good to hear you have a heater. Your fish will be much happier having stable water temperature.


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