hiding when the light is on???????

reverendred

the fish in my 20 gallon tank seem to hide whenever my light is on for that tank.

whats going on?? is this a normal occurrence??

the inhabitants are:
1 RTS
5 Gold Barbs
2 Albino Tiger Barbs

Lupin

Did you switch on the room light first? If not, you need to switch on the room light first before the aquarium light.

JouteiMike

Is your light on a timer or do you manually turn it on and off?
Maybe the light is too bright?

It is normal for fish to hide, but are they hiding all day long? Or just immediately when the light is first turned on?

reverendred

hiding all day long.

its a 25 W 18" bulb. shouldnt be too bright i wouldnt think.

i turn on the room light first.

JouteiMike

A pic of the tank would be nice. Sounds like it has nothing to with the light.

How do the fish act other than hiding? Do they come out when you feed them?

reverendred

well as soon as i turn the light off. they come out to play.

they do come out when i feed them. they act normal except when the light is on.

Lupin

Your light wasn't too bright but I think they seem to be used to subdued lighting.

joeshmoe

floating plants might help

Andyandsue

Seems to me you have some fish that don't like bright light. Dim the light or get some floating plants sounds like an easy fix! Maybe you could also tape something with some color to it onto the light cover first to see if that helps before investing in a new bulb/light?