Do I need to turn off the light in the aquarium at night and why does it depend?

In order to bring the living conditions of fish and algae in an aquarium as close as possible to natural conditions, several important conditions will need to be fulfilled. One of them is lighting. Perhaps the population of the home reservoir does not really need it: fish and other inhabitants of the aquarium live at a depth under water, where sunlight does not penetrate. But if there are living plants, then you need to take a very responsible attitude to this issue.

Choosing the ideal lighting mode for your aquarium will require a lot of experimentation, observing the behavior of the inhabitants of the tank and the vegetation.

The aquarium does not need constant lighting. The operating time of the backlight is selected individually, depending on the species of fish and plants, the arithmetic mean is between 10 and 14 hours. The season plays an important role in determining the length of daylight hours, since in the autumn-winter period the daylight hours are shorter and this means that the regime should be adjusted.

As already mentioned, plants need lighting to a greater extent. In order for the algae to develop correctly, you should constantly monitor the operation of the lamps. If the daylight hours are longer than in natural conditions, algae will develop faster than necessary, water bloom and more rapid reproduction of harmful bacteria will begin in the reservoir, which will affect the behavior and health of its inhabitants.

To optimize daylight control, you can use light sensors, alarms or timers. With the help of these devices, the light will turn on and off at a specified time.

There are some rules that must be followed when using aquarium lighting.

1. The lighting in the aquarium should be switched on and off at the same time every day.
2. The transition from light to dark should be gradual.
3. The duration of the lamp operation over the seasons should be constant, but not more than 14 hours.

Everyone makes a choice for himself whether the aquarium needs lighting at night. But before making a final decision, you should take into account the advice of experienced aquarists and the species composition of fish living in a home reservoir. Violation of the conditions for caring for pets can lead to diseases of animals and premature death.

For the inhabitants of the aquarium, the presence or absence of illumination at night does not really matter. When feeding fish, no lighting is required: they find food with the help of other senses. Plants also do not need constant lighting. The light in the tank should not be on around the clock. You can leave it at night if the aquarium is in a windowless room.

There are several species of fish that are nocturnal. During the daytime, they mostly hide in shelters, behave sluggishly and unnaturally. If you breed such fish and still decide to use night lighting, then you should pay attention to the natural night illumination under the moonlight. It imitates the natural light of the moon and has a wonderful effect on the biological activity of plants and nocturnal fish species.

At night, as a rule, predatory fish, catfish, loaches and some others lead an active lifestyle. It is not recommended to keep day and night fish in the same aquarium, as they will experience the inconvenience of living together, and peaceful fish will suffer from predators.

In the natural habitat of fish, round-the-clock lighting does not exist. Many species of fish live underwater at great depths, where sunlight cannot get in in any way. There are some groups in which development is inhibited by too long daylight hours.

The main species of exotic fish come from warm seas, the sun shines there brighter and longer than in our climatic conditions, but they also have enough of the light they receive during the day. To understand if fish can do without lighting at night in an aquarium, you just need to imagine their natural habitat.

Living conditions that are most similar to natural ones allow the inhabitants of a freshwater reservoir to develop better, and their life expectancy will not decrease.

Nature has laid down the change of day and night, pets also need rest, so uncontrolled night lighting can interfere with them. From all that has been said, we can conclude that there are no significant arguments against turning off the light at night.

For information on how to correctly calculate the lighting in the aquarium, see the next video.