Darkness

[pweissma]

Am I crazy to ask if fish need it to be dark at night? About a month ago I started a 7g reef tank in my office. At night the space is still fairly well lit and I'm wondering if this could create a problem for my fish.

 

[Sk8r]

Probably it can disturb them mildly, but the alternatives probably aren't good---covering the tank could dangerously disturb the chemistry. If your fish have a rocky nook to hide in, that can be their night.

 

[LaOtIn]

im assuming there is no way to shut off the light in just the room the tank is in? if not I would do as Sk8r suggested and get a piece of LR that has a nice cave effect on it or build one out of a couple of pieces of LR. I would make one cave/sleeping area for each fish in the tank. I would even go as far as to buy an artifical cave for them. you can also build a canopy for the tank to minimize the amount of light coming into the top of the tank, it certainly wont cure the light coming in from the sides and front, but it will help. Also you could (if its not already done) get a black back drop for the tank, either premade or by painting the back. the solid black background should give a darker effect on the tank. another option would be to add LED lunar lights to give the water a night effect and cover the tank at night. covering the tank without lunar lights im afraid would be ill advised, however with LED lunar lights you could simulate moon light without having the tank exposed to the main room lights. light all the time on the tank can lead to stressed out fish and possibly algae problems, so a solid solution and change is advised.

good luck, wish i could have a tank at work! stressed out = look at tank for a min

 

[noahm]

There are places where hotels light up the reefs all night long. I know it has altered some things as it attracts different night feeders, but I assume that everything either deals with it or hides in the rock if it is not happy. So basically not ideal, but probably not a big deal.

 

[pweissma]

Thanks for the thoughts. The tank originally was going to be in my office but my coworkers got excited about it so I put it in a common area. That worked out real well as I just moved offices, LOL. I'm also able to get help with the maintenance this way.

Not sure why covering the tank at night is a bad idea? I have a nice chunk of craggly rock (Fiji maybe?) so hopefully we're ok for the fish.

I lost a skunk shrimp after about 5 days. Perhaps the lack of darkness made the adjustment too stressful. Make sense? I would really like to get a shrimp in the tank so advice on this issue would be much appreciated.

 

[cloak]

How about constructing some sort of a shell with black cardboard? The stuff you buy at a craft store to protect the top of a desk. Four sides and a top. You could make it to where there's a 4 or 5 inch gap on all sides so it's not touching the tank in any way.

Just a thought.

 

[cloak]

Something like this, but with a little bit more space in between the sides of the tank and the cardboard. Cut a few holes for the cords to get through and your set.

 

[pweissma]

Still not sure if draping fabric over the tank is a bad idea, a light weight fabric that breathes. Remember it's a 7g. The light fixture would hold the fabric well off the water. That's my plan and I'm picking up some small sexy shrimp today.