Is My Light Too Bright?

[Gr44]

Hi all,

Firstly I've got a new tank, I've completed the fishless cycle etc and I got the fish on Wednesday, they were added to the tank around 4pm. Obviously they've been a little bit nervous and timid and seem to be getting better, I bought some real plants for them today to help process Nitrate and also because I thought they'd enjoy them!

Tanks is attached;

Anyway,

My question is this, they act pretty 'normally' now when the light is off but when it's on they find a shady place (normally under the filter) and just sit, I can only descibe them as 'shaking' as they almost look like they're struggling against current but I know that isn't the case.

You might have noticed them in the above picture, when I first put the plants in they roamed around for a minute then right back under the filter lol... see below;

What should I do? Keep the light off? Leave it on so they get used to it?

I don't want to stress them out... is the bulb too bright?

Any advice very much welcome, this is my first tank so I'm not familar with what to do!

Many Thanks,

Sean

 

[Just_Another_One]

i had the same problem when i set up my first tank and added 6 black skirt tetras... i would turn the light on and they would all freak out and hide behind an ornament together. They also shivered like you described.

I just left the light on but monitered them at first to make sure no body was dying of stress and eventually they got use to it

 

[ian]

what part on the filter are you using?

 

[Gr44]

It's the spray bar - they don't struggle to swim against it at all - they can zap all over the place when they want to (feeding time!)

 

[wendywc]

My rummynose were extremely skittish when I moved them from a 30 gallon to a 55 gallon. The bigger open space made them uncomfortable it seemed. But then I added rainbow fish and they're happy again. I guess the rainbow fish are dither fish for them since the rainbows are very forward and outgoing.

 

[Gr44]

I haden't heard of the term 'Dither' fish before but having read the following on it via google; http/www.theaquarians.net/ArticlesandWallpapers/dither_fish.htm

If the Glowlight Tetra's are still inactive and scared after a week or so what other fish could you recomend? I was planning on getting some Corydoras shortly anyway, would they help (I guess not from that article?)

Thanks,

Sean

 

[wendywc]

I don't want to rush you into stocking your tank too much, too soon. Just sharing with you my recent experience. Hopefully, these guys just need some "settling in" time, but if not, when you add more fish later that might help calm them.

 

[OldMan47]

A cory is not generally a good dither. They can also be quite shy in a new tank. Instead you want a bold fish that is not afraid of being seen out in the open like maybe a male platy. That will encourage the scared ones to move out into the open more often. An aggressive fish like a barb also makes a poor dither. They will make the tetras justifiably want to hide.

 

[Lucky5tar5]

I've found platies, madagascan rainbows, mollies, and some gouramis to be great for this in the past. As such that my cardinal tetras do not shoal anymore, but rather spread themselves out. I guess thats a minor con...

 

[mr130gallon]

well, shoaling is a defensive thing, so if they arent shoaling then they are feeling better about there surroundings and wont be so skittish. thats what i think anyway

 

[Gr44]

Well, I'm pleased to report that they are looking much happier now and are coming out with the light on!

They just kind of cruise round the tank at will, often being in the same place for some time before moving off again... they chase each other some times too

Thanks for all the advice & comments

 

[mr130gallon]

can we see pics of how they look now?

 

[Gr44]

Sure, will post some when I get home... might be tomorrow night as it looks like I'll be working until some silly hour again... been here since 8am

They still seem a bit more relaxed with the light off, but they are playing around with it on now so I guess it's only a matter of time

 

[mr130gallon]

what kind of tetras are they, they look good in the first pictures

 

[Gr44]

They're Glowlight Tetra's - they look much better now with their colours coming out more. I guess the colours don't look as good when they're stressed as such.

At 6am when I left the house they were all still there too, hopefully nothing has changed during the day! 14 in total