Someting Strange Is Happening

[Gooner]

Have recently changed the tank around, ditched the plastic plants and populated with real ones. Also added a new Interpet PC 24w Triplus T5 lighting alongside the other standard T8 30w Juwel daylight bulb. This giving me 54w of light against a 30g tank = 1.8wpg.

Now the problem....Since adding the new light all the fish cower into one corner or hide when the lights are on, and become active only when the lights are off.

All the water stats are fine and there is no physical signs of illness/disease.

Is this normal behaviour and they will eventually get used to the extra 24w?

Any suggestions what could be wrong?

The tank is not as bright as this photo makes it out to be.

 

[Matty P]

Hmm... What fish you got?

 

[Gooner]

Current Setup

30 gal (L40"xH15"xW12")
2 x "Red" Rams 1m 1f
10 x Tiger Barbs
1 x Bristlenose Plec
1 x Clown Plec
Overfilterd With
1 x Eheim Pro 2224 External
1 x Eheim Ecco 2233 External
Standard T8 30w Juwel bulb + T5 24w TriPlus PC

With a lonely Cory Julii (Soon to be Rehomed) He is the only one that doesn`t seem affected by the light.

 

[Gooner]

Just switched the lights off and put in some flake and the little blighters are swimming around with no worries at all.

As soon as the lights go back on they dart around in a mad panic and hide back in the corner again, weird.

 

[5teady_2012]

What happens when you trun the new light off and just leave the old one on?

 

[Gooner]

Thats the strange thing as well, if I only use the original lighting (the 30w) they still do the same thing, dart around like made and hide untill the light is turned off again. I thought they would be used to that as they (the tigers) have been in the same setup for nearly 18 months now.

 

[5teady_2012]

Just leave the light on for a while, give them time to get use to it, see what happens, not much more you can do really.

 

[Matty P]

Make sure that before the tank lights go on, the room is well lit up so that your fish eyes can ajust with out them getting a fright.

 

[5teady_2012]

Make sure that before the tank lights go on, the room is well lit up so that your fish eyes can ajust with out them getting a fright.

Good point, sorry, should of added at the end of my post lucky i got matty to back me up lol

 

[rdd1952]

Although we need the lights for our plants and so we can see the fish, the fish wold much prefer that there was no light at all on the tank. They get all the light they need from just the ambient light during the day. Mine had the same issues when I upgraded to power compacts on my 29 gallon. It has 2 65w bulbs for a total of 130w. Each bulb has it't own switch so I usually only have the one bulb on. Even then, they still stay hid much more than when I just had the one 17w strip that came with the tank on it.

 

[DarkEntity]

Have recently changed the tank around, ditched the plastic plants and populated with real ones. Also added a new Interpet PC 24w Triplus T5 lighting alongside the other standard T8 30w Juwel daylight bulb. This giving me 54w of light against a 30g tank = 1.8wpg.

Now the problem....Since adding the new light all the fish cower into one corner or hide when the lights are on, and become active only when the lights are off.

All the water stats are fine and there is no physical signs of illness/disease.

Is this normal behaviour and they will eventually get used to the extra 24w?

Any suggestions what could be wrong?

The tank is not as bright as this photo makes it out to be.

Just to top off your story, the ferns (middle rear) in your tank are not aquatic plants, and i dont think the grasses are to the far right

 

[rdd1952]

Another issue that makes the light brighter for your fish is your light colored substrate which reflects the light back up. Ever been outside in the snow or on very white sand and notice how much brighter the sun appears to be?

 

[Gooner]

Another issue that makes the light brighter for your fish is your light colored substrate which reflects the light back up. Ever been outside in the snow or on very white sand and notice how much brighter the sun appears to be?

Had white sand until 6 weeks ago and looked very bright then, but no problems.

Ok, I understand where all the comments and suggestions are comming from, and am grateful. However they do not help in any descision making.

Prior to fitting the extra wattage everything was "Hunky dory". Even now when I dont use the extra wattage they still shy away in a corner.

I guess this gives me two alternatives....Happy Fish or Happy Plants....Thats a tough call.

 

[rdd1952]

They may simply be spooked at the additional light and need time to adjust. If you went back to the original lighting, they would probably come back out over time. Once they get stressed or spooked, it just takes time for them to become comfortable again.

 

[cbr6fs]

Gooner sorry to stray off subject slightly, but your tank looks exactly the same as mine hood and everything.

I'm also trying to upgrade my lighting but i can't see anywhere to mount the new lights.



Do you have any pics of your lighting upgrade please?




Cheers
Mark