my fish are staying at the bottom of the tank and when i turn the light off they are fine again...?

Question

...but they need daily light to it has to be on i dont know what to do ???????????????????

they are 5 white cloud minnows

Answer 1

What type of fish do you have? Plecos and otocinclus (otos), and lots of other fish are nocturnal, so it's their nature to be active at night (or when the lights are off). Some fish like black ghost knifes are sensitive to bright lighting, and should have dim light, or plants to cut down on the brightness.

If you can add the species of fish you keep (use the edit button under the question to "add details") we can let you know if the behavior is normal for your type of fish.

Also, is the light making the water too warm? Warm water holds less oxygen, so it may make the fish less active.

ADDITION: White clouds prefer cool water, so make sure the water in the tank isn't getting too hot for them - their temperature should be around 72oF or lower. These are also a schooling/shoaling species, which does best if you have them in a group of 5+. Otherwise they tend to be timid (maybe expecting a predator to eat them?).

Also, check your water quality - high ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate may make some fish act lethargic. Although this shouldn't coincide with the lighting, it may if you have live plants in the tank. When plants use CO2 for photosynthesis, it causes the pH to go up, and ammonia is in a more toxic state in higher pH levels. Rather than trying to change your pH, it's best to do a water change to bring the ammonia down.

Answer 2

This sounds like Light Fright which is a common condition with small shoaling species like white clouds.

Whats happening, is that the light is providing light for the whole tank, but theres not enough shade or shelter for them to feel secure enough to swim around in, with the ability to dart back to shelter when danger threatens them.

White clouds come from China where they live in cold freshwater streams with fast moving water. The streams have lots of logs and large rocks and pebbles in them which provide a multitude of caves and other places to hide, but it sounds as if you need to add a little more decor to the tank.

Provide some rocks and a small cave such as a plant pot on its side and plenty of live or plastic plants to provide shelter. A few floating plants will cut down the amount of light which penetrates the water surface and will also take excessive nitrate from the water proventing too much algae growing.

The addition of one or two slightly larger fish, such as bull head or rosy red minnows may help the white clouds feel more secure as larger peaceful fish act as a trigger to smaller food fish which feel safer if larger fish are swimming around them. When the larger fish scatter, the smaller ones take this as a sign of danger and dart back to shelter.

At the moment, the reason they are hiding in the gravel on the bottom, is because it is technically the only shetler and they feel slightly camourflaged against it.

Answer 3

dont put the light directly on them put farther away from the tank , the light is to bright in thee tank

Answer 4

well they might not like it maybe because it is too bright or because they can't see i had fish that did that and they turned out fine they got use to it

Answer 5

the light could be too bright for them or are you sure they aren't nocturnal fish?

what type of fish do you have?

Answer 6

i have guppies and every night they lie on the gravel...in the morning when i switch the light on they come back - this means they are sleeping!!! they sleep on the gravel