discus hiding from bright light

[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?

[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.

[silverbob]

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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.