Less Light & a Happy Puffer

[drjuzz]

Thought i would share this:

So two days ago i decieded to put in "moon led lights" and at the same time adjusted my lights timer for 4 hours less light per day (had the sun bulb running for 4 hours and a low watt green light running for about 4 hours into the evening, now i only have the sun bulb running for 4 hours during midday) .

Shermy (GSP) normally shows signs of stress (blacking on the sides and tummy) despite perfect water conditions. I did read once that some puffers may show black just because they can and accepted this. Since setting less hours of light per day and using soft LED lights for the evenings, Shermy has been looking whiter and more chilled than ususal!

Something to try if your puffer shows signs of stress and your water is perfect.

Let me know if you have the same result ?

OH By the way, for those of you who know Shermy and the skin problem - after soaking food in vitamins before feeding for 6 months. Skin has healed completely and is looking great

[t1gerbee]

My brackish puffes are exactly the same, have a ceylon and a GSP...

and both go all thundery and black if you turn the tank lights on.. so i leave them off now... just flick them on once in a few days to check for health etc.. but other than that i just use the room light...

When i first got ceylon a year ago i bent over backwards with water changes as he had such a black belly, then noticed that at night he had a pure whote belly...

so now i just leave the lights off..

at one point i did try getting them used to tank lights, little at a time, but it really annoysed them, so now i just leave them off permanently..

Guess if it was my main tank no lights would be annoying, but they just hang out in my bedroom, so it makes no difference.

[yunachin]

I love using moonlights. I think it emulates the natural balance that theses creatures have in the wild. As far as light length, I find that some fish to prefer to have no or low light. My Fugu gets 4 hours of light max every 2 days. It keeps him from stressing out definitely. I also limit the amount of light that my Fahaka gets as well, which makes him more apt to socialize and be out in the open.

[By_a_coo]

My F8 is totally different from the first one I got (R.I.P.).

The first one did hate bright light, my plants almost died. The one I have now doesn't care about lightning - I have 40W of light in a 20G tank. This made me, and my plants too, feel very comfortable.

[inkyjenn]

as my puffers get more and more used to their tank, they are becoming less and less happy with the lights. they hid all day yesterday. i finally got smart and turned out their light and closed the curtain behind their tank so that they were in a fairly dark area. and sure enough within minutes both puffs came out and were swimming around busily inspecting every nook and cranny. i was going crazy! water parameters are fine. they were eating like champs. just being really reclusive. i knew they slept, but jeez louize! i think im going to pick up several small terra cotta pots for them to use for sleeping