Lights in or around the pond

[Akinosan]

It's hard to know what fish are feeling, but whenever I have the pond lit up at night they seem to enjoy it. They swim through the light and respond to feeding with gusto! Being a fisherman, I also am aware that most fish in the wild are night feeders also.

[Dale Torok]

I have had underwater lighting for our pond since it was built 5 years ago. The fixtures are 20 watt & on mounting brackets that I made out of 3/4" pvc pipe. Yes, the light fixtures are exposed and fish could swim into them or get bumped into them causing injuries. However, I am happy to report it hasn't happened yet.

The underwater lights shining from 7 different locations in our kidney shaped pond gives us very nice illumination of the entire pond. The bright 'rays' extending out toward the center of the pond from these different points looks very good at night. In fact, my wife says viewing the fish at night is her favorite time. I like it, too. When it is dark and all our other lights are out, the underwater lights make the pond glow and as fish swim in and out of the front of the lights, the light reflects light off their sides in every direction. Underwater lighting gives you a view of the fish that is completely different from daytime viewing.

Try it. You'll probably like it! Ideally if you could build & recess the light fixtures into the walls, that would be the best option, but to me, its worth it even if you can't.

Dale

[Werner]

While some studies have been done on night lighting of ecosystems and their advantages/disadvantages see http://www.darksky.org/links/enviro.html. none i know of are specific to Koi. I would imagine that keeping a pond artificially lighted all night, would upset the ecological balance therefore affecting the fish. In my observations, artificial lighting for up to 4 hours a night does little if anything to upset this balance.

Stray or leaking voltage OTH will play havoc with your fish, so I would never recommend any underwater lighting over 12Volt. Even then, a voltmeter and regular test of leakage into the pond is a smart thing to do.

[koifishgirl]

I leave my underwater lights on from dusk to 11m about 2 to 3 hrs a night. I used to leave them on till very late and felt is would hurt the fish by not getting the rest they need so I cut back. In the winter I dont have them on at all, and also early spring when the koi are getting ready to spawn. I dont want to get in the way of mother nature. When the lights are off koi go to sleep, they lay at bottom of pond very still. Lighting is ok as long as you dont overdo it, and very soft lighting, so as not to interfear with the koi natural clyle. All fish sleep when it gets dark.


Judy

[Lee B]

I use the 20 watt/12 volt underwater lights. They're timed to go on at dusk (before it gets dark) to about 11:00 at night. The fish appear to be more active at dusk, constantly cruising. They feed avidly, more so when the lights are on than at any other time of the day. They're beautiful to watch at night, and it's fun to watch them orient themselves to the angle of the light.

Rather than watching them "startle" when the lights come on, I often wonder how they feel when the "sun" suddenly goes out!

Lee