Angels Freaking Out When Lights Are On

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My angel tank is in the conservatory and gets natural light, so I wasnt too bothered with having a broken light bar (juwel tank). However with winter approaching I got a light bar for it as soon it will be dark at 6 when I feed the fish. Trouble is if I turn on the lights during the day the angels are fine (do this to get them use to it) but at night they just drop all their colour and sit on the bottom. Last night one was falling onto its side breathing rapidly, fins going crazy. Now I had already done a wc so it wasnt the water but tested anyway, but as soon as I turned off the lights again they all rose up off the bottom and started swimming about. weird!

Will they get use to the light?
 
My Angel does exactly the same thing if I turn the light on at night - he goes pale and sinks to the bottom on the side. I think its a bit of a shock reaction to the sudden light; hes been 'sleeping' and suddenly he's woken up and that's how he copes with the sudden shock.
I think turning the light back on so soon after it going dark may mess with their natural day/night cycle. So, if you want them to have light for longer after the natural light is gone, it might be a good idea to turn the light on before it gets dark. That way they won't 'settle down' for the night until you're ready.
 
My expensive idea is to use dimmerable lighting. Cheaper would be to raise the hood so the light isn't so intense, gradually lowering it over a period of time. If you have a glass cover, you could try putting some material between it & the tube to diffuse the light a little? Along these same lines you could use surface plants.
Just a few ideas, :)
 
Is it possible to get a dimmer light or put something over the light to mask it's brightness perhaps?
 
I'm trying to time my lights a bit better so waiting for a new digital timer to turn up but this is to make sure I don't over run them being on as I started to get a little algae. Maybe a timer would work for you along with whith what mbeer21 suggested. Try that suggestion a few times to see the angels reaction and if ok, automate it!
 
Most of the fish I have ever owned have freaked out at lights on lol.

Cheapest option would probably be a timer on the socket to come on at say 10am and then you can just turn it off on the evening.

Wills
 
I read a while ago the lights are for viewing, I leave mine off a lot when I'm not there to look at the fish.
 
lol First time I have ever had this problem. I have turned the light reflector around blocking most of the light from the rear bulb and changed the front light to a softer light instead of bright white, It seems to have worked slightly as they are not all huddled in one corner. I only want to use the lights for feeding time, I know me I will forget if I change the feeding time on just one tank.
 
HMMM I have never had a freaky problem with my angels or any of my fish. They know that when the light is on and someone is standing in front of the tank or in the room at any time, they always come up to the front and think it's feeding time. My lights are on a timer, that comes on at 5pm and goes off at 11pm. It is now starting to get dark around 6pm now, so the house isn't completely dark when the light comes on.
IDK... maybe when the light comes on it never shocks them from complete darkness than bright light...
 
I hate bright lights. I don't even see the purpose of it since what plants need for example has nothing to do of how bright the light is. We humans perceive the colour of light in a different way than plants and fish certainly don't like it. Bright lights are only for kids tanks with blue gravel, pink coloured decorations, lego toys :lol: and fish that last only a few months.
I changed the lights in one of my tanks with Dennerle special plant and Dennerle colour plus tubes and all the fish and plants are happy, the tank looks even a lot more colourful because of the colour plus tube and the annoying white brightness that used to stress me and the fish is gone. I'll upgrade my bigger tank too when the finance is right. The tank came with annoyingly super bright lights. I once turned all the lights at once at night time to check on something and then I saw my black bodied guppy looking drowsy and completely white like it had a hangover or something :crazy:. I now turn them on in stages, one light first for a while and then the other two 30minutes later, otherwise the whole community gets spooked. I also started feeding them straight after I turn the lights on so instead of fish bumping into the glass frantically for a couple of minutes, they kind of look a bit excited and wave their tails around waiting on snacks.
 

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