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discus hiding from bright light
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 8:11 am
by SunKnot
My discus have been hiding a lot since I upgraded to a brighter LED light. They used to swim around more with the old T5 setup. Tank is 75 gallons, planted with Amazon swords and driftwood, pH 6.8, temp 82F. Anyone else deal with this?
Re: discus hiding from bright light
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 10:07 am
by guppy
Yep, they can be super sensitive to sudden light changes. What's the wattage on the new LEDs? I dimmed mine to 50% for a week when switching from T5s, then slowly ramped up. Also, check if they've got enough shaded spots with the new setup.
Re: discus hiding from bright light
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 11:55 am
by silverbob
guppy wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 10:07 am
Yep, they can be super sensitive to sudden light changes. What's the wattage on the new LEDs? I dimmed mine to 50% for a week when switching from T5s, then slowly ramped up. Also, check if they've got enough shaded spots with the new setup.
Exactly this. Mine freaked out when I swapped to LEDs until I added floating plants like frogbit to diffuse the light. How often are you doing water changes? Stability helps them adjust.
Re: discus hiding from bright light
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 1:45 pm
by Coastal
Mine did the same thing, dude. I cut the light cycle back to 6 hours and added some tall vals in the corners. They chilled out after a few days. You got any dither fish in there? Cardinals help mine feel safer.
Re: discus hiding from bright light
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 1:54 pm
by SunKnot
Thanks for the tips, everyone. The new light is a Fluval Plant 3.0 at 75%. I'll try dimming it and adding more floaters. Water changes are 30% twice a week with RO, and yeah, there's a school of rummynose tetras as dithers.
Re: discus hiding from bright light
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 2:58 pm
by Dubson
Hey, just wanna say I feel you. My discus hid for a solid week after I messed with the lighting. It's stressful, but they'll bounce back. Maybe throw in some extra bloodworms to coax them out? Worked for my shy guys.
Re: discus hiding from bright light
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 4:20 pm
by FairyFish
Bright lights sketch them out for sure. I run my LEDs at 40% max now, and they're way more active. Also, check if the substrate's too reflective—mine hated the white sand until I swapped to black.
Re: discus hiding from bright light
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 6:07 pm
by Lavent
FairyFish wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 4:20 pm
Bright lights sketch them out for sure. I run my LEDs at 40% max now, and they're way more active. Also, check if the substrate's too reflective—mine hated the white sand until I swapped to black.
For real! My crew acted like I was blasting them with a spotlight until I dialed it back. How's your feeding response? If they're still eating, it's just a phase.
Re: discus hiding from bright light
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 6:49 pm
by Craftsman
Might be worth checking the PAR levels if you're into the techy stuff. I found my discus preferred zones under 50 PAR. Also, what's your photoperiod? Longer than 8 hours can stress them even at low intensity.
Re: discus hiding from bright light
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 7:01 pm
by Hawk
Yo, same prob here last month. Slapped on a cheap window screen mesh to diffuse the light, and bam, fish were out like nothing happened. Sometimes the ghetto fixes work best, ha.