Black Widow Tetras afraid of light?

[Canary bird]

Just a report-back in case anyone else ever has the same problem. I've been keeping the light off most of the time, only switching it on when the room light is already very bright. Then gradually increasing the time the lights are on. Fish still hide, but not all the time and now they come out and swim around in the later afternoon / evenings even if the light is on, this seems to be their "busy" time. I got some floating plants but not enough to really make a difference - am a bit limited by what is available. I've now got a little school of baby black widow tetras in the quarantine tank. That has quite a bright light and they seem completely unworried by it. I'm a bit apprehensive over how my two adult black widows will react when I introduce six new babies into the tank!

My adult accepted the babies straight away, it was awesome .. They were like ...oh you must be our dad and followed him everywhere, sadly when he died they missed him, So when I get my bigger tank built I am going to increase the numbers

 

[Masha]

My adult accepted the babies straight away, it was awesome .. They were like ...oh you must be our dad and followed him everywhere, sadly when he died they missed him, So when I get my bigger tank built I am going to increase the numbers

Oh how cute! I hope mine works out like that.

 

[Masha]

Just a final update in case anyone else has a similar problem.

I introduced the 6 young black widow tetras a week ago with no problems. No aggression shown by older black widows at all. The young ones don't hide and seem very happy with the lights on or off. The older ones do come out more now - even when the lights are on - but they still hide a lot and come out more in the late-afternoon evening. They seem more comfortable in dimmer light conditions. I no longer worry about it though as they don't seem stressed. They don't get a fright when I move near the tank - in fact they swim up to the glass to demand food

Right now the lights are on and they are swimming around with the rest.

Thanks for all the advice and help

 

[Canary bird]

Just a final update in case anyone else has a similar problem. I introduced the 6 young black widow tetras a week ago with no problems. No aggression shown by older black widows at all. The young ones don't hide and seem very happy with the lights on or off. The older ones do come out more now - even when the lights are on - but they still hide a lot and come out more in the late-afternoon evening. They seem more comfortable in dimmer light conditions. I no longer worry about it though as they don't seem stressed. They don't get a fright when I move near the tank - in fact they swim up to the glass to demand food Right now the lights are on and they are swimming around with the rest. Thanks for all the advice and help

So glad it worked out I can't wait to get more of these fish