"sleeping" problem

[sublime258]

I have a 10 gallon tank that is home to 5 different kinds of tetras and one algae eater. I recently upgraded my lighting from a standard flourescent to a compact flourescent which also has an LED night light built in. The new lighting is obviously much brighter than the previous. My fish used to swim around a lot when the light was on, now it seems that they only prefer to swim when the CF light is off and the LED light is on. This means that the only time I can really watch my fish in action is at night when it's time to sleep. Whenever I turn on my light when I wake up, the fish immediately take cover under decorations and stay in a "sleeping" state for the majority of the day. This really isn't that big of a deal, but I hope there is something I can do to get my fish to flip their sleeping time. Any suggestions?

[xoolooxunny]

how long do you have the light on for? the compact fluorescent could also be too bright for them. I know my phantom tetras like to stay in the shade most of the time.

[gm72]

I had the same problem with my upside-down catfish. They like it darker. I ended up getting a submersible night-light of sorts (LED crystal thing that my daughter loves). I also dimmed the high output of the lamp by lightly (read: VERY lightly) spraying the bulb with heat resistant spray paint. All of the fish have loved it for the past several months since I sprayed.