Will my fish be stressed by a lack of sleep?

djryan2000 · 12/05/2019, 10:12 PM

Simply put I am up late many nights (1-3 am) doing schoolwork in my room. Consequently, the lights are on and the fish are swimming around actively. Once the sun is up they're up - which is around 6 where I am right now. Should I move my late-night work to a different room?

Michael Hoaster · 12/05/2019, 10:28 PM

A good question. My guess would be yes, frequent three hour nights could stress them. Ideally, you'd have your aquarium lights on a timer. While studying you could use a small desk lamp, leaving the rest of the room dark. Of course you could synchronize you're tank's daylight hours with your late schedule too.

mcgyvr · 12/06/2019, 05:35 AM

My understanding is that fish "rest" multiple times during the day and night.. They do not require darkness to rest and do not have a typical 4-8 hour continuous sleep "need" like humans.
So my belief is that NO your situation will not cause them stress anymore than keeping fish in a tank causes..

If you are concerned just toss in a few tiny sleep masks for them to wear

Uncle99 · 12/07/2019, 03:03 PM

Interesting question.
My fish immediately run to their night spots when light out.
Through this period of lights out I sometimes see the yellow tang and the mandarin, but never the blue tang, the Anthais or the gramma.

Whenever I come to a situation which I do not know, I default to what happens in nature, which is clearly a dark period and a light period.

Seems as good a guess as any.

Brian M. Saxon · 12/08/2019, 04:06 PM

Definitely yes.

12/05/2019, 10:12 PM	#1
djryan2000 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2019 Posts: 441	Will my fish be stressed by a lack of sleep? Simply put I am up late many nights (1-3 am) doing schoolwork in my room. Consequently, the lights are on and the fish are swimming around actively. Once the sun is up they're up - which is around 6 where I am right now. Should I move my late-night work to a different room?

12/05/2019, 10:28 PM	#2
Michael Hoaster Registered Seaweedist Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 5,807	A good question. My guess would be yes, frequent three hour nights could stress them. Ideally, you'd have your aquarium lights on a timer. While studying you could use a small desk lamp, leaving the rest of the room dark. Of course you could synchronize you're tank's daylight hours with your late schedule too. __________________ As many naturalists and environmentalists have suggested, we should set aside our arrogance, our desire to conquer and control everything, and walk hand in hand with Mother Nature. -Walter Adey Current Tank Info: 180g Seagrass Sandbar Lagoon, START DATE November 28, 2018

12/06/2019, 05:35 AM	#3
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	My understanding is that fish "rest" multiple times during the day and night.. They do not require darkness to rest and do not have a typical 4-8 hour continuous sleep "need" like humans. So my belief is that NO your situation will not cause them stress anymore than keeping fish in a tank causes.. If you are concerned just toss in a few tiny sleep masks for them to wear __________________ Who me?

12/07/2019, 03:03 PM	#4
Uncle99 Crab Free Zone Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 2,906	Interesting question. My fish immediately run to their night spots when light out. Through this period of lights out I sometimes see the yellow tang and the mandarin, but never the blue tang, the Anthais or the gramma. Whenever I come to a situation which I do not know, I default to what happens in nature, which is clearly a dark period and a light period. Seems as good a guess as any.

12/08/2019, 04:06 PM	#5
Brian M. Saxon In Memoriam Join Date: Dec 2019 Location: 498 Meadowbrook Mall Road Gardena, CA 90247 Posts: 8	Definitely yes.