LED Lighting

[scooterlindy]

On Saturday, I moved my two Tetras to a new tank. The old tank was a 12 gallon tank and had a halogen light that was not very bright and the new tank is 20 gallons and has LED lights. I also set the new tank up in my living room which has more natural light than where the old tank was placed. The fish are doing well and seem to be enjoying the bigger tank. My only issue now is the LED lighting. When I turn it on, they dash either to the corner of the tank or under the toadstool decoration. At first, I thought I would attempt to leave the light on for them to get used to it but they just sat in the corner and seemed to get more stressed the longer I left the light on. I've continued to try leaving the light on for longer and longer periods, yet they still stay very low in the tank and do very little swimming. Once I turn the light off, they resume their active swimming and swim all over the tank - high and low. Is there something else I should be doing? The lights make the tank look nice and I love watching them with the light on because I can see them but I don't want to stress them out either. Suggestions?

 

[Delapool]

I've taped quite a large portion of LED lights off (a suggestion I think from CB and others) with no issues and less algae.

 

[Angellove78]

You can get them use to it little by little, by feeding them with it on. Just leave it on alittle longer each time you feed them. Within a few days they should come around. For less stress do it while it's still day light. But I do second that point on algae. The longer you leave your lights on, the more your gonna have to clean it. And with the tank being in a well lighted room I'd be careful with the sun light.

 

[Toad]

I think part of your problem is you only have two. Tetras are schooling fish and highly unconfortable in low numbers. Minimum amount suggested is usually six, depending on the species and future stock you could go higher.

 

[rlederer]

I agree, you need at least six tetras. Also, they will be more comfortable with hiding places and shade. Real plants would be ideal but plastic plants or some other landscaping would help.

 

[scooterlindy]

The room is well lit but the tank is not in direct sunlight, so hopefully that will help keep the algae low - so far none has started and the tank has been set up for almost 3 weeks - I didn't move the fish into it until I had the water right. My plan is to get more fish for them, however, since it's a new tank I didn't want to stock it quickly and cause issues with my water. I inherited the one fish, Stewart, a black skirt tetra, from my dad when he retired and in my excitement, I went out and purchased him 5 friends - within 2 days, 4 of them died - all from my lack of knowledge. So before I purchased more fish, I've been doing tons a research, have gotten them a new, bigger tank and have been taking it slow. I've been testing the water daily and my levels have been almost perfect - my ph is a little high at 7.6ppm but otherwise all my other levels are good, so this weekend, I plan on getting them some friends. I'm just being cautious as I don't want to cause any stress to new fish or to my current ones. And they do have several plants, a toadstool decoration, and two rock formations that they can go in to hide if needed. Hopefully taping off some of the light and adding some additional fish will be the answer!

 

[Angellove78]

The ph level s on tanks all depends on the type of fish you get. The algae, if any, won't happen right a way. Brown spots in your tank will be the start of it. And last thing. When adding fish to the tank put the bag in the top to float, wait at least 15 mins and carefully and slowly add some of the tank water in the bag wait another min. Or 2. Then scoop them out. Shouldn't add the fish store water to your tank. When you pick out fish really look them over. No white spots. Have fun!

 

[scooterlindy]

Ok, thanks. I assumed it had something to do w/my water since it's constantly at 7.6 ppm - it was that way in the old tank as well. And thanks for the tip on adding fish - that's what I did last time. I also added some Stress Coat to the tank before adding the fish per the fish stores advice. They all seemed to do really well the first day and then they started dying.