Do fish sleep?

[goldfish]

Ok, I'm going to ask this dumb question and whoever laughs I'll smack!!!
Do fish sleep? Whenever I come into the room during the night (yes, occasional insomnia) the two tangs I have are always swimming around. My triggers head for the hills when the lights go out, but my sailfin and yellow tang are always moving around. My Naso used to do that too before he passed away...sniff, sniff.
Just wondered if they sleep while swimming, or if they are just constantly awake.
Thanks for not laughing!

 

[pufferlover]

Fish as such do sleep altho they do this in a manner similar to hovering in place. Some like wrasses bury themselves at night, some like Triggers will lock themselves into a tight place with their top fin, some like my Puffers lay on the bottom. I am trying to keep this simple and just basically answer your question without being scientific Which isn't my bag anyway). I do find that many fish who have keen eyesight can detect your shadow near the tank and they begin to stir thinking you are the big bad fish eater. Many books advocate leaving a room light on for a few minutes after turning tank lights off so the fish can settle down for their nightime rest.
By the way this was a refreshingly new question so I don't think anyone is laughing.
In re-reading must add (before someone else does) that some fish are nocturnal and they begin to get active after the lights are off. They have the bad luck of having to try to sleep with the lights on during the day.
[ May 20, 2001: Message edited by: Pufferlover ]

 

[goldfish]

Thanks Puffer.
My triggers do lock themselves into the rock but are never out during the night. I have noticed it's only the tangs so thought they sleep while swimming. I'm sure they do notice me coming into the room, but even when I sit still for awhile they are still moving.
Oh well...I'm not going to lose any sleep over it!! Thanks!

 

[dlight692000]

it is perfectly normal for your triggers to not come out at night, my puffer and tang are the only night swimmers. what kind of triggers do you have?

 

[grouperhead]

my trigger sleeps at night, and when he gets disturbed, he makes a loud whirring sound. my eel is always swimming at nite, and in his pipe during the day. most fish are nocturnal because in the wild thats when they feel safest and can hunt/feed easiest. later, bo

 

[beth]

Ok, perhaps this is a dumb observation....if you are up at night when the fish should be sleeping, how is that you can even see your fish? Are you turning on the lights in the room where your tank is? Do you leave a light on in that room at night? Once the lights are on, or comes on, then your fish are going to get active. And tangs do sleep at night, usually finding their own spot, and, as Puffer states, "suspend" there until wakeup time.
I always do what Puffer suggests which is, when its time for fish to sleep, I gently start turning off the lighting in the room where the tank is. Once lights are off, they stay off all night [there is a small light in the kitchen that filters into the livingroom where the tank is so that no one getting up at night will stumble around in the dark. .....In the am, the light filtering in from the window wakes the fish up.

[ May 20, 2001: Message edited by: Beth ]

 

[goldfish]

I have a light that is on in my kitchen that filters in. Also, just the natural light coming in my skylights (moonlight). It was just an observation I've made that has me curious.

 

[misty927]

Well, at night, to let my fishies know it's time for bed, I turn off half of the lighting on the tank. I have two light strips per tank specifically for this purpose. I wait approximately 20-30 minutes and then turn off the other light. I do this in the morning also when turning on the lights. I just feel that is must be such a shock to the little guys to be woken up to bright 110 watt lights, just my opinion. So I turn on a dim actinic light first and let them rouse a bit and then the power compacts, and vice versa at night. Also, it's more like sunrise, sunset this way. So it's even more like their natural habitat. It kinda seems troublesome I guess, but it's really enjoyable to watch them settle down for bed. Also, when I turn off the main lights, it gives little critters like my shrimp a chance to come out and play without being bothered by the fish, who have gone to bed. And with the actinic light, I can see what's going on perfectly without disturbing their nocturnal behavior. I hardly ever see them during the day, but at bedtime it's party central with the shrimp. Too funny....
[ May 21, 2001: Message edited by: misty927 ]

 

[nicole]

It was fun to read up on everyones bedtime rituals. The jawfish that closes his shell door at night; too cute!!! I think I'll pile some shells up near my jaw's den and see if he does the same thing. I've noticed that my sea horse, Secretariate, tends to bob around in the water more after I turn the lights off. Sometimes he likes to body surf in the current near the filter.

 

[pufferlover]

One last thought after reading the other posts regarding night lights. I do have in my fish room 3 pole lamps with 25 watt red Bulbs (I get them at Menards for 99Cents) I have these on timers so they come on a few minutes before the tank lights trip off. Whether the fish can see the red I really don't know but when I can't sleep it allows me to come thru that room to my computer and not kill myself on the way. They are very dim but give the place a good feel. In the morning they go off shortly after the tank lights come on. I guess you could say my fish room is a red light district lol.

 

[subliminalfish]

I do the same as Misty. Yet, my lights are on timers. The actinics come on 45 minutes before daylight lamps and then turn off 45 minutes after daylight lamps at night. this works very well. My larger fish, tangs etc. start moving around when actinics are on, but my small fish (firefish, etc.) get active when the daylights are on. I call the small fish my sleepyheads. They are like my wife and could sleep till noon. Ha. Ha. They all know that feeding time is when all lights are on.

 

[pufferlover]

In reading the last post I reminded me that when I am in my backroom getting the fish their food they know somehow because as I come out to the main room (they can see the refer in the backroom) they are all pressed against the glass on the side that faces the room. I think the give away is when I go into the cabinet below the 125 and get out the blue plastic plate I use to cut up the food. The Puffers in the 125 go nuts when they see the bowl get to eye level because they know what is going to happen.

 

[goofieones]

These bedtime stories are so cute I plan on getting a double hood so I can also have the two lights and do like most of you. For now the lights are on timers. But they still know it's morning before the lights come on because the room gets brighter from the sun light. Anyways, the best sleeping ritual I have is my purple firefish, when the lights go out for the night, he backs himself into his hole in the barnicle.(sp) The second favorite is the regal tang, who sleeps on his side under a piece of rock, if you didn't know better you'd think he was dead.

 

[fugu]

i cant say that i can give you any scientific backing but based upon my observations from my own tanks experiences. definitely, i have triggers who will lodge themselves horizontally into rockwork and others who will park themselves face first into coral holes other species who will hover in a cerain area of the tank , until ambient light appears, so i think there is a definite cycle just as with most other organisms.

 

[shel]

First I wanted to say that I enjoyed everyones stories. I like Misty and sublim said I have my lights on timers they click off at diffrent times along with the fans for the MH.
All the fish have their own area, when the first lights go off, the chomis go to bed. Everyone else waits for the big light to go off. The tangs are always the last to go to bed and the first up. I also have a night light on in the kitchen that filters in so I can check out the tank and the dogs in the night time. The best is the dragon wrass, he goes to bed at the same time everynite and gets up at the same time the next afternoon. He steels all the shells and puts them in his corner, he sleeps in the sand under them.
The fish no as soon as squat on the right side of the cabnit that it is feed ing time. They all come and watch to make sure I hurry up. LOL A few weeks ago one of those nite bugs that are attracted to lights came in and was on the glass. You should have seen the tangs and the dragon wrass, they were all trying to get it first. LOL
Shel

 

[otto13]

i really didnt believe this when i saw it, but...... when i turn off all my lights but there is still light filtering in from the living room, my mandarin gobies do synchronized swimming. every single night. they just swim to the top of the water and imitate each others movements perfectly for about 30 minutes. it is the weirdest thing i have ever seen fish do. this has been going on for 4 months now. it started right after they "DID IT". oh well, that is my two cents.

 

[shel]

Otto, I did not know you could have more then one Manderine goby in the same tank, I always thought they would fight. Hmmm....
I would love to them do there little routine, that would too cool to watch.
Shel

 

[otto13]

well, the female that had been in the tank for about 6 months, hated the male right off the bat. she attacked him for about 3 days and on the 3rd night she mated with him. wow. as soon as that happened, they were instant friends. you can tell the male and females apart by their dorsal fin. the male has a very long one and the female has a very short one. good luck. since they lay them flat most of the time you have too look closely. make sure you have lots of live rock and copepodsamphipods. if you live by the ocean, you can get them by buying a net that has holes small enough to sift sand but keep the copepods. you can get thousands this way.
[ May 24, 2001: Message edited by: otto13 ]
[ May 24, 2001: Message edited by: otto13 ]

 

[badfishy]

I have a black voliatan. And it seems that he is more nocturnal than a day dude. I feed him at night in pitch dark. And he scurrys along to catch the shrimp/fish....
My tangs sleep while swimming.. they will float aroung and bang into the walls and such from the current. My trigger locks himself in the middle of my tank on some rock work and my adult prisoner goby is the freakist of them all. He will dance in his sleep..... Usually the prisoner goby makes burrows during the day but at night. If he senses you are around he sticks his head out and does this little dance like saying "get outta here u freak"
Best....