Bright light, bright light

[dumber]

Remember Gizmo? reason I ask is because most of my community tank totally chill out when I turn the tank lights off. They've been in the same tank for 8 months but even tho I've changed one of the two bulbs to a softer "gro-lux" they still only relax and use all levels of the tank with the lights out.

They're fairly shy species - silver dollars, congo tetras etc, I was wondering if you have similar experiences? or if you have any suggestions?

[OrionGirl]

Do you have lots of places for them to hide? Plants especially (fake, though, with SD in there). Fish that have lots of potential hiding places to duck under will actually hide less. Keep in mind that for fish, bright open waters pose a threat--predators hunt in open waters more, especially birds. So, by giving them lots of overhanging plants or wood to hide under, they are more comfortable exposing themselves because they know safety is close by.

[dumber]

Thanks for the reply orion girl. I made a few changes some time ago to try and make them feel more "at home" including switching to dark gravel and reducing the light, they have quite a few plants and hiding places including a large slate bridge, unfortunately the plants have to be replaced every few weeks :o

I wondered about what you'd said tho and have since bought a load of floating plant which has diffused the light a bit more, it seems to make a difference, they're happier and as long as they don't decide to eat it all it should grow rapidly too.