Should I keep my aquarium light on through the night?

Question

Since I'll be turning it off for most of the day today (It's Monday in Germany already) so as not to stress out George.

Or is there a particular amount of time that I can keep my light off and then turning it back one without 'freaking him out'?

Mind you I have live plants. =)

And George's species is a betta.

He'll be the first addition to my tank then after him the oto's and after that the neon tetras.

Answer 1

Fish need a day/night cycle. It doesn't matter whether it's off all day and on all night or vice versa, as long as there is a cycle.

I should also add that I have an aquarium in my classroom that I've planted with live plants. It doesn't matter where I would have put it, it was going to get a lot of sunlight. I don't even use the hood light unless it's really stormy and overcast outside because the aquarium already gets a lot of natural light. My fish are doing just fine, and I haven't had a lot of algae problems...possibly because of the live plants and my bristlenose pleco :O)

Answer 2

You can do whatever you would like to do for your light. I put a timer on mine. It works wonderfully!

Answer 3

You should turn the light on when the sun comes up and turn it off when the sun goes down, naturally. Or if you don't wake up that early or go to sleep that early turn it on when you wake up and turn it off when it gets dark or when you go to sleep.

Answer 4

for bettas, they dont even need the light/heater thing (i have three of them, and have had bettas all my life) i tried the light on them ones, just at night and it ran out fast! c(:

Answer 5

No, you dont have to keep the light on through the night, u can turn it off that helps the fish to sleep. The second thing that u should turn it off is because then ur electricity bills go high.  

Answer 6

well, it's sure that you want to save energy. so, in your mind. you choose what it's suppose to be needed. i mean, when you are awake you could let the light up then when you are going to sleep you turn it off. that's easy.

Answer 7

The primary problem with that is during the day, if there are windows, it's still going to be light in the room.  Since Bettas prefer dim light, they'd do just as well with only this. If the light is bright, day or night, this may stress the Betta, which in turn may result in disease and other things.

Bettas are tropical fish, which means they need water temp higher than room temp, unless your room temp is over 75.    They're also more susceptible to diseases such as ich with low temperatures (below 80F).

Cold water is defined as being room temp for fish keeping purposes.

Answer 8

It does not mader

Answer 9

just follow whatever cycle you're on... when you wake up turn on the light and feed them and at night turn it off before bed... i've had many bettas and thats how i've always done it and it has worked out fine

Answer 10

A day without light shouldn't hurt the plants. As for freaking out your betta, I remember reading something that said bettas don't really care one way or the other about light, then again who really knows cause it is not like we can ask them. So basically, it's just a matter of what you want to do....If it were me, I would just keep the light on the same hours i normally do.

Answer 11

In general, the length of time your aquarium lights are on should simulate the natural day and night cycle. 10 to 12 hours of light a day will provide sufficient light energy for photosynthetic plants and animals, but depending on the type of aquarium and the light requirements of the aquarium inhabitants there may be some slight variation. I would recommend using a simple lamp and appliance timer which could be purchased for a few dollars at the hardware store.