Do fish sleep/rest?

CodyL1121

My two Platy's that I got tonight have been active all night and acting normal. I have the tanks light turned off so it will get a little colder in there for them since its 78 degrees. I went out there and their right beside each other just sitting there. Is this normal? Do fish rest lol?

tanker

Yes, they do. My bettas sprawl on the gravel. I've been frightened when I've seen them, thinking they've died....

iamgray

Yes. My platies often scare me into thinking they.re dead... But when i move my finger around in front of the glass, they swim away.

A note on the heater... Does it not have a dial to set the temperature? Are you able to exchange the heater for one that is adjustable? A heater for a 10g tabk shouldn't be too pricey... a steady temperature is better than constant fluctuations.

CodyL1121

I tried but its hard to understand. The manual doesn't explain enough, and i turned it to 72 and it got hotter than the 78 degree water so I don't know whats up :/

iamgray

Does it have a light that goes on to show when it's heating?

i Pretty much ignore the settings on the heater and go by what the thermometer hanging in my tank says. If my heater light comes on when i want my tank temperaure lower, i just turn the dial on the heater down slightly until the light goes off. The next time i notice that the light is on, i check the thermometer again, and if it still isn't as low as i want it, i again turn the dial down slightly, just until the instant the heater light goes off. I keepdoing that until the temperature has lowered to where i want it to be. Same goes for raising the temperature, but it's just in reverse. When i notice the heater light is off, i check tehe thermometer and if it's not warm enoigh, i turn the dial up slightly until the heater light comes on' and repeat that every time i see the light go off until it reaches the right temperature. I takes some fiddling around and tweaking, but eventually it should stabilize.

CodyL1121

I have to turn the heater all the way up to maximum for the light to come on. Then when the light comes on I set it back down to the temperature I want, and it turns off in like 15 minutes lol and the tank still won't be the temp I want it to be.

iamgray

Rather than setting it all the way down to the temperature you want, have you tried just turning it down enough that the light turns off, and then waiting to see what it drops to before turning back on again? When messing with the tank temperature, it's better to do it in slow/gradual/steady increments.