Food/light for tank on weekends?

Anne L.

Anne L.

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Dec 3, 2003
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Hi, folks! I haven't been around here much as I've been busy and my tank has been going well.

I have a question about what to do with my fish when we are away on the weekends. We generally go to the lake on Friday night and come home again on Sunday. I know that the fish can go without food for this period, but I have a question about the lights.

I turn on the tank light when I get home, and the fish know it's feeding time. They come up to the feeding ring and just wait for their food. It's really cool.

So when we're away, should I leave the light on a timer so it comes on/goes off at the regular time? The poor fish will be wondering where their food is if there's no one there to feed them Saturday at supper time.

Or should I just leave the tank light off altogether? The tank is in a bright enough spot that it won't be really dark until the sun sets.

What to do?
 
If you have live plants, then you should probably put your lights on a timer. It's more important to give your plants the light they need than to worry about the minimal (if any) stress your fish will suffer from missing an expected meal or two. If you don't have live plants, but your tank gets some ambient light anyway, I'd suggest leaving the lights off.
 
Your call. If you have plants, they will appreciate the timer, but the fish really won't care either way. If there's no food, they'll go back to their normal fishy business after a while.

I do like having all my tanks on timers--just makes it easier to control photo periods--but with mostly planted tanks, it's more important.
 
If there are no plants in your tank, I wouldn't worry about putting your lights on a timer. Your fish will do just fine with the ambient lighting that they receive from the windows in your home.

-Richer
 
Thanks, you guys.

I don't have live plants in my tank, so it sounds like it'll be fine leaving the lights off. With the warm weather coming, it'll help to keep the tank cooler too.

Live plants would be nice, but I have a lot of things to look after already; 2 boys and the fishies, so I think that's enough for now.

My husband laughs at me the way I talk to my fish. He says that I treat them like another kid sometimes.

I do like my fish a lot; they're interesting and pretty to look at.
 
Oh, I know, aquariumfishguy. It's just so cool that they seem to know when it's feeding time. The other night, I forgot to turn on the light, and we were sitting down for supper. The tank is in our dining room beside the table, and when we looked over, the fish were circling around the feeding ring, waiting for their supper, too.

It was as if they knew we were eating, and wanted their share.

Silly fish.

:)
 
If you normally feed the fish around the same time each day, it may be more of an circadian rhythm or internal clock telling them it's time to eat rather than a response to the lighting or to your own movements in that general area. But still, a couple of missed meals shouldn't upset that rhythm.
 
I tend to believe its more than an 'internal clock' of some sort because of the fact that some of my fish only eat when its MY hands feeding them (no lie!) and they get all excited when I walk into the room. Other people can walk into the same room and they do nothing more than look for a second or two. For some reason they love it when I enter close to their aquarium.

Anyway, just my opinion. ;)
 
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