Will this really kill my fish?

[savemykid]

My boyfriend has a 75 gal tank in our living room. We have a pretty small apartment, and since the fish tank has been there, no one is allowed to have any lights or the TV or anything on in the living room or surrounding rooms from 9:30pm until morning. If someone wakes up in the middle of the night, they are expected to sit in the dark so as not to disturb the fish. My son left the hallway light on last night and got in deep s**t for it this morning. If we question whether this is really needed, he claims that the fish will die if they are disturbed at night. Someone please clear this up ASAP before the fish become more important than the people. I love him (and the fish) very much, but come on is this really that big a deal? He uses this BB as well, and I'm sure he'll read this post, so please be honest.
PS to him....Sorry, but I need some more opinions before I shut down my house!

 

[jacrmill]

i dont think you will kill them at all. i keep my tank in my room, and after i shut the light off, i make sure to shut the door, and try to be quite, and turn on a light a distance away, so i can see, but doesnt disturb the fish too much. i dont think it will kill them at all, just maybe wake them up when they are resting.

 

[sundog]

No, they don't need it absolutely dark. I have and will continue to get up and turn on the TV or stereo after the lights are out. My kids do the same thing and it has never had any effect at all on them.
And by the way...He should lighten up a little, you are right the people should be more important.
Kids can, and will, do things alot of the time without even thinking about it. Turning a light on in the room will cause no harm.
I play in a band and we played with the entire PA system in the same room as the fish and it did not disturb them in the least.
By the way, I am 40 years old and have 3 kids of my own...believe me, if my kids haven't disturbed the inhabitants of my tank, nobody's kids could do any harm to theirs.
[ April 18, 2001: Message edited by: Sundog ]

 

[savemykid]

Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much. That's what I thought, but I figured I'd better make sure before risking the fortune we put into that tank. Hopefully he'll read this and loosen up a bit!

 

[firefishguy45]

It WILL NOT even harm the fish. However, my fish won't rest until there is no light left in the room.

 

[sundog]

Hopefully he will...I have learned my lesson the hard way and all I can say to your boyfriend is...
Life is too short. Live it to it's fullest and appreciate the people who you love and who love you, like there is no tomorrow...
Because there may not be a tomorrow for you, or someone you love.

 

[tangman99]

If light harmed fish, mine would have been dead a long time ago. My tank is in my living room and the tank light goes off at 11PM. They all scatter and go to bed at that time. All except my yellow tang and percula clowns. They are up and swimming around until I go to bed which is usually around 2AM.
Hope everything works out good for you!

 

[saltwater marauder]

Where did he get that idea in the first place? My bet is your LFS, lol, My lights shut off at 9:30 pm and I have the tv on, which is right next to my 75 gal. bowfront and about five feet from my 37 gal., until about 11:00. Fish are all fine and healthy. Is he assuming that light after 9 is deadly? I mean these are fish not gremlins. Maybe you should suggest that the lights come on at a later time and shutoff at a later time , that way all parties involved will be happy. You guys can stay up later without worrying about the boyfriend and the boyfriend wont get pissed off cause the lights will be on and therefore you wont be "disturbing" the fish.

 

[bluto]

I've actually heard that it's GOOD to have the tank lights go off an hour or so before the humans go to bed so the residual room light can better simulate a dusk/dawn type of situation in the tank. Afterall, the sun doesn't turn on and off instantly. I realize there are aquarium lighting units which also simulate this but not everybody has them. Besides in nature there are full moons, etc. Instant, total darkness doesn't seem necessary.
Bluto

 

[goofieones]

I have put my fish on a weird schedule, some may even think it's not that wise, but the fish don't seem to mind and it is constent. The lights are on a timer and don't turn on until 2pm and then turn off at 12am, that is because we stay up so late, and want to be able to view the fish while we are awake. The t.v. still stays on after the fish light turns off and this doesn't seem to bother them. I agree that it simulates the regular world better because the sun just doesn't instantly appear, it gradually does, and it gradually goes down at night. All fish and inverts seem very happy and are not dead yet!!