# Betta Fish Afraid of the Dark?



## Minecreeps7 (Aug 23, 2016)

Hello! My betta, Sam, a.k.a Savage Sam, is afraid of the dark. I think. When i turn off my ceiling light and leave the tank light on, he flares like the Boogle Man is watching him, lol. I dont think its a deseases or anything like that but i think something happened to him when he was young or in his genes. And i know for a fact this is not his water quality before u go spam in the comment section about my water quality being important. If you go on my instagram @that_dude_andre, u will see what i mean. I have a video of him doing it. Tell me if you have the same problem or u know how to make him not 'afraid' of the dark.


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## moodynarwhal (Mar 24, 2016)

He isn't afraid of the dark. When you turn the room light off and leave the tank light on it creates the same effect as when it's dark outside and you look out the window and all you see is your reflection. He's flaring at the reflection because he thinks it's another betta. I would just turn the tank light off. Bettas don't need a ton of light anyway. I think the recommended time is about 8 hours.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Spot-on advice. However, it's not how long the lights are on; it's the brightness in the tank. Fish have biorhythms just like people so they need periods of darkness and periods of light.


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## McLareN (Aug 1, 2017)

I dont want to jack the thread here, but i wanted to confirm something.
So Blue lights can count as the night cycle Russel? Is that correct
And when you specify periods of darkness, does that include blue lights off too?


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