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One of the things that a tank setup usually includes is a light. Although it’s true that sometimes it isn’t necessary to have a light in your tank, or even not suitable, this will depend on the type of fish you keep. But what about the Platy fish? If you keep Platys do they need a light in their aquarium?
Platys are not generally considered a light sensitive fish. This means that natural daylight is enough to keep them happy and healthy. It also means that you don’t have to equip your aquarium with an artificial light if you prefer not to. Although your Platy fish won’t mind a bit if you do. However, there are several reasons why you’ll probably want to install a light in your Platy tank. Here’s a few points about aquarium lighting to help you decide.
Will A Light Make My Tank Look Better?
One of the problems with having an unlit tank is that it can end up looking like a black box sitting in the corner of the room. You can’t see much of your plants or tank decorations. And let’s face it, you’ve probably spent a lot of time and effort making the tank look good. You’ll also get to see even less of your Platy fish. Or any of your fish for that matter if you keep a community tank.
Lack of lighting in an aquarium also makes it more difficult when it comes to monitoring your fish’s health. After all, you need to be able to see your fish clearly to check for signs of illness, bullying or pregnancy. Or even just to check that every one of your fish is getting their fair share of the food.
It’s not practical to have to get a torch/flashlight out every time you want to check on how your fish are doing.
So investing in a tank with an inbuilt lighting system, or adding an independant light to your existing aquarium, is really useful. You can also rig up your own external lighting system. And you don’t need to be a DIY expert to do it, which is good news.
Having a light in your aquarium makes it look better. It will highlight and show off your plants and tank decorations. It makes it a lot easier to keep an eye on your fish. It also increases your enjoyment of your fish because you can see the antics they get up to.
And the main point of the fishkeeping hobby is to get pleasure from seeing your fish. Otherwise the work of maintaining them is just another chore that you could do without.
Watching your fish swim around the aquarium is a great way to relax too. It helps you to unwind after a hard day. It can take your mind off the problems that life often throws at you.
Well it works for me anyway.
Do Live Plants Need A light?
My understanding of live aquarium plants and light is that all plants need at least some light to grow and stay healthy. How much light a plant needs, and for how many hours a day, is going to vary depending on the individual plant’s needs.
Some aquarium plants thrive well in low lighting. Just the natural daylight that enters through the tank glass is enough for them.
Other plants need several hours of brighter light. Whether that’s natural or artificial light, again, will depend on the particular plant.
If you’ve read any of my other articles you’ll know that I have artificial plants in my aquariums. And while I’ve learnt a bit about live aquarium plants, and passed that information on, I don’t (at the time of writing this) have any actual experience of keeping a live planted tank myself. I am looking to add live plants to my tanks but I just haven’t got there yet. In other words I’m not an expert on how to keep a live planted aquarium.
However, I do know that some plants are easier to keep than others. Whether it’s their lighting needs, the use of fertilizer or how much ‘gardening’ you’ll need to do, the plants can vary in their needs by quite a bit.
So my general advice on this is to make sure that you get some reliable information about the plants that you think will look good in your aquarium before you decide to buy. After all It’s always best to know what the plants will need from you before you head to the checkout
And don’t forget to check if the plants you like best will be suitable for the fish you keep, and also for any shrimp or snails that share the tank with them.
Should I Turn My Aquarium Light Off At Night?
Nature creates its own periods of light and darkness. It’s just the way that things work when it comes to our planet. Technological progress over the years has given us the ability to decide when it’s light or dark in our own homes. We can control how many hours of light and darkness we want at the touch of a button or switch.
Which is great for us.
But what about your fish?
We can choose when to turn our lights on and off to suit our lifestyles and personal needs. But our Platy fish, and any other fish, shrimp and snails that we keep, are relying on us to do this for them.
So how many hours of light is best for your aquarium?
The amount of light your aquarium needs daily will depend on the fish and plants that live in the tank. So it’s likely to be a case of finding a happy medium to keep everyone healthy.
You’ll probably need to do a little research on both your fish and plants so you can make your own informed judgement. Then see how things go. You can always adjust the lighting time to suit your own tank if you think you haven’t got it quite right the first time round..
As far as I can tell there doesn’t seem to be any hard and fast rules for lighting time in a Platy tank. But between 8-12 hours of artificial tank lighting seems to cover most opinions.
More than 12 hours a day would probably be too much. But this will depend on what other fish species and live plants you’re keeping with your Platy fish.
It’s true there may still be light entering through the glass once you’ve turned the tank light off for the day. But it will be a lower level of light. Even if you still have your house lights on it won’t light up the tank at the same intensity that a tank light does.
Because the light level is lower it’s a bit like being outside at the end of the day when the natural light begins to fade. Lower light levels create a winding down period that helps us, as humans, to sleep better. And the same goes for the inhabitants of your aquarium.
Okay, I realise that some fish are active at night and it’s the time when they forage for food. So the darker hours are their time. But the other fish in your tank will use the darkness to rest, and this includes your Platy fish. So having this dark time will be beneficial to both those that are more active in the light and those that get going when it’s dark.
It’s likely to be a bit trial and error initially when it comes to gauging how many hours you should light up your aquarium.
However, it’s not a good idea to leave your tank light on 24 hours a day.
Leaving the light on permanently can stress out your fish. If they don’t get enough downtime they are likely to get stressed. And a stressed fish is more prone to illness. Which is not only worrying for you but it can be deadly for the fish itself.
So don’t overdo the lighting.
I know that a tank looks so much better with the light on but you need to get a balance between your enjoyment of seeing your Platys in their full glory, and making sure the Platy fish and their tank mates don’t suffer because they are feeling stressed out.
To read more about how light affects your fish tank click here
