Corydoras and Light Sensitivity

[aquarob]

Hey all. Its been about a month since I upped my tanks lights from 30w to 120w CPF fixture. My corys used to be active constantly when the lights were on, even after rearranging the tank, waterchanging etc. Nothing bothered them. Soon after I changed the lighting scheme and added live plants, I NEVER see them anymore, they are always hiding inside my ceramic pot decoration or my plastic barrel decoration. They only come out at night I guess when the lights are out. The wafers I drop in there are gone in the morning so I assume they are coming out at night to feed.

My question is, has anyone else that keeps cories noticed this behavior after changing the lights on the tank? Adding plants perhaps? I would think the plants would make them more active, as they would feel more secure? Perhaps I am wrong. I miss seeing them though, as they were very fun to watch. Any suggestions or comments are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Forgot to mention, the tank is a 55g community.
Fish:
4 Praecox Rainbowfish
4 Celebes Rainbowfish
4 Peppered Corydoras
9 Neon Tetras
8 Glowlight Tetras
4 Oto's
Plants:

A lot. I'd still call it medium planted though, because most of the plants are still smallish.

 

[Roan Art]

How small are the plants you have? I don't have that kind of wattage in my tank but I do have lots of plants. My corys, one of them is a peppered, don't hide at all.

The bows aren't picking on them, are they? I don't think they would, but it doesn't hurt to check. How tall is the tank?

Roan

 

[aquarob]

Hey thanks for the reply. Nope, nobody picks on them. The rainbows stay in the upper to middle water column mainly. If anything, they pick on each other a little. If you want to call the infamous cory dogpile picking. I.E. laying on top of each other. No agresssion problems in my tank. Most all of my plants are between 4-8" in length or girth, depending on which plant we are looking at. I still have some huge plastic/silk plants in there as well, which I will remove once the live ones grow out a bit. The tank is a standard 55g. 48"L x 13"W x 24"H. I have no idea why they are hiding either. When I do see them, which isnt often at all, they are nice and fat and healthy looking. Eating well, because as I mentioned the wafers/pellets are always gone in the morning as usual. /shrug I dont get it...

 

[shaunakadub]

What temp. are you running in your tank?

I noticed with my corys (I have a school of 6) that when the temp. is higher (79-82f) there activity is way lower then it is at say maybe the 72-75f range.

If you have your temp a little higher, try lowering it and see if it makes them more active.

 

[TKOS]

My cories moved from a 10 gallon with 30 watts of light to a 29 gallon with 96 watts of light. They have always had a little cover but they seem just as active int he bigger tank, that is to say often doing nothing, sometimes running around like mad fools.

 

[ljse]

My cories spend most of their time piled on top of each other under a piece of driftwood and only go into a mad frenzy when food falls in front of them. I think hiding is a normal behavior.