Are my lights too bright?

IslandHopper

IslandHopper

King of somewhere hot!
Nov 16, 2009
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Feel free to coach me on the use of "search" but I couldn't find any threads that covered this.

I'm wondering if my hood lighting is too bright.

I've got no real plants... don't plan to. (55 gal, 48x16x20... 20" top to bottom)

My Tiger Danios hang out on the gravel when the lights are ON (swimming as a school all over, but always on the bottom) ... at the surface when the lights are OFF... what I've read indicates that they are surface-strata fish.
So do I need to put dimmer bulbs in there, or is this acceptable/harmless behavior?

(Dwarf Gourami's don't seem to be bothered by it... they are up and down at all levels when lights are on.)

It's a new tank, so those are the only fish in it so far. (And NO water quality issues so far.)

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It could be too bright -- and since you have no live plants, a good way of making the tank grow algae. What kind of light is that?? If there are 2 bulbs in there -- perhaps try removing one. If it's incandescent, you can put it on a dimmer, can't do that if it's flourescent.
 
IslandHopper said:
It's a new tank
Click to expand...

I would guess this is the problem. They are just a skittish fish, and once they learn they are safe they will probably roam the entire tank. Right now they probably figure someone will eat them if they are exposed at the surface while the 'sun' is out. Give them a couple months of safety and I think things will be fine.

Do they come up for feeding?

Also you could consider tiny sunglases for them if all else fails. :cool:

PS - My danios were in a 29 gallon with 100 watts of light and they didn't mind being at the surface at all.
 
bigwave said:
Also you could consider tiny sunglases for them if all else fails. :cool: ...
Click to expand...

Is there a forum vendor that sells those ??

Thanks for the compliment... can't wait for a couple of healthy weeks to pass so we can add a few more fish... my girls want to add some Neon Zebras to that school... I'm interested to see if they'll school together with the "normal" ones.

Two hoods... one flourescent bulb in each. I'd actually LIKE to get some algae STARTED ... don't want the Whiptail to starve ;)

Yes, they feed at the surface... so yeah, maybe just give them a few days. Even the Whiptail actually came out of hiding today!
 
Your stock lighting isn't going to be too bright at all. Your fish will calm down eventually. Don't worry, they are just getting settled in. :)
 
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