Changed lights - old fish now fighting
 

I have a (mated) pair of 12yr old clowns, that have been best buddies for over a decade. They've always hung out peacefully, together in their cave, rarely venturing far. No other fish in the tank. No additions in years.

Changed my lights from T5's (2 x 54w) to LED's (IT2040) last night.
This morning I noticed that the pair were separated in the tank. The smaller male is being quite aggressive towards the larger female and keeping/chasing her away from their cave. She looks pretty lost at the front of the tank...

Over the years I've changed from CF to MH to T5, as well as changing tanks (and a house move), and never any problems with this pair.
I have an awful feeling that I'm going to lose my old female. :sad:
Looking for some advice, please. Do I need to pack up the LEDS?


Tamara

same thing happened to me when I first switched to led , my female would attack the male . They got used to the light after a few days and then started breeding lol. They would only fight when I had my blue lights turned up so maybe try adding more white depending on the fixture . Can you leave the t5 fixture up ? Maybe run both lights for a little bit and slowly cut the time back you run the t5

Thanks. There's obviously a big difference in the lights (the old T5's badly needed a lamp change). I currently have the LED's dimmed below half and elevated quite high off of the water surface.
Just concerned how aggressive the male has become. "She's" always been boss :smile:
Hopefully tonight she'll sneak back to the cave..

Tamara

He's prob just horny. Show them the 50 shades of grey movie when it comes out n she will understand

It's possible the change in lights has changed the spectrum in the tank enough for them to no longer recognize each other. They are able to recognize individuals amongst animals that are otherwise identical to human eyes, and we really have no idea what cues they're using to do so.

Maybe it's like being at a bar, with a few drinks and dim lights everything seems great, then the next morning with full lighting one may question their last night's judgement. In your case the bright lights just happen to come years later.

@ trigger man: LMAO

Well, at 12+ yrs (90 human years?) she still looks gorgeous :biggrin:
He should count himself lucky...

Asylumdown, that may well be true re: spectrum change & confusion.

The good news is, she finally inched her way back to the cave today, without being maimed or killed. Bad news is, he really freaks when the lights come on or change in intensity. This is going to be a *really* slow process...

Thanks for the responses!
Tamara