Pajama party: Do you watch your fish at night?

[Peace River]

Pajama party: Do you watch your fish at night?

Whether the tank goes dark or switches to moonlight at the end of the day, for most of us there is a time when our reefs go to night mode. Whether this is an abrupt switch or a gradual fade, the fish, coral, and other livestock may also switch to night mode. This may mean that some close or hide and others may stay the same or even come out from wherever they have been. Many of us watch the activity in our tanks when the lights are on to see the activity of our fish and corals, but do you ever watch what is happening in your tank after the lights have dimmed? If so, what have you noticed about the behaviors and activity of the creatures in your tank?

Photo by @Tigahboy; Pajama Cardinalfish


This QOTD is sponsored by: www.tidalgardens.com

“The goal of Tidal Gardens is to offer the highest quality corals to those seeking a piece of that world without destroying it. We hope to instill a deep appreciation for the natural reefs and help develop a self sustaining hobby that no longer requires the collection of fish and corals.”

 

[TheSheff]

When my corals close up a little at night it lets me see if my lps are splitting at all lol.

 

[fodsod]

I watch both of my tanks every single night for a few minutes. Gives me a chance to look at things closely and just enjoy the tank as things calm down for the night.

 

[Reefer Matt]

I keep a lot of damsels, aka reef fish. It is very rewarding to see them in the mini habitat that I created for them as they sleep in the coral.

 

[Slocke]

My favorite fish is nocturnal so I spend a lot of time watching my tank after dark

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I usually watch my tank every night since it’s right in my living room, so I take a look at it every night

 

[shakacuz]

i occasionally watch them after lights out but more so to inspect for the critters that come out at night to help manage them

 

[Sharkbait19]

I often watch my tank at night, especially since some of the fish are nocturnal and only come out around the evening, such as my rooster fish.

 

[KrisReef]

Only when I can’t sleep.

 

[CasperOe]

Absolutely! One of the most enjoyable times for me is when the lights are dimming down! I have a good, comfy chair in front of the large tank in the house. Seems like a good place with a glass of whiskey and a wee pipe of tobacco (on the odd nights where i deserve one!)

 

[Boehmtown]

Not everyone obsessively counts the fish in their homes every night......

 

[JayM]

I've got about 15 fish in my 80 gallon tank at the moment, but you'd think I don't have any after lights out. I still enjoy peeking into all the cracks and crevices to see who sleeps where.

 

[kevgib67]

I put no because after lights out my fish are usually tucked away in nooks and crannies. I do, often, use my red light flashlight to look at all my nocturnal creatures crawling or swimming. Very satisfying.

 

[randomfishdude]

One of my tanks is in my room so I do all the time. Especially on the nights I get home after the lights have gone off.

 

[Ladyhawk124]

My night inspection helps check the health of my corals and is when my Inverts come out to work. I love watching my conch and turbo snail sift the sand bed

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

My reef has an offset photoperiod so the light stays up fairly late into the night and don’t turn on until I’m pretty much heading to school, so to them, I technically don’t watch them at night. When the lights go out is when the engineer goby gets to work though. Every day he erects a new wall or digs a new ditch, never seems to be tired. Sometimes I wonder if I feed him too little.

 

[Jeremy_d]

Orphek didn’t put a lunar cycle in the software for me to not use it! I love watching the tank at night

 

[Treefer32]

My 340g mixed reef is built into a wall or well resides within my furnace room with it facing my basement family room. I like to turn the incandescent furnace room light on after everything is asleep to see what's happening. It's amazing how I can actually lose 3 fully grown tanks 6-10" in diameter. They just vanish at night in the rocks. What's really cool is to watch the tentacles on my chalice, the candy canes all have their tentacles out and look like totally different corals at night. My bubble coral receeds about 1-2 hours when the lights start ramping down and by night time it looks like it's completely dead. Then the next morning it's all fully inflated and looks like a brand new happy coral.

The more interesting thing is seeing the hundreds of bristleworms moving on my sand bed and in the rocks. (eek)... But, they keep things clean so, I leave them. I should at some point maybe start trapping them, I also think their population will self regulate based on food availability.

Usually the snails are out on the glass at night. I have no idea why by many times my nassarious snails come out of the sand bed, rise to the top of the glass and then disappear the next morning. No clude what secretive meetings they conduct. Overall there's almost more going on at night than there is during the day!

 

[Mr_Knightley]

I absolutely love watching my tanks at night. It's when I feed the coral and get to feel out what critters are growing where. My favorite part of keeping reefs is the weirdo creatures that only come out at night and seeing just how drastically the environment changes when the lights go out.

 

[reefnfun]

I look at night to make sure I still have peppermint shrimp in there, They only come out at night.