latest tank start up, 55 g, lighting?

[pennyg]

hey all,
it's been a minute since I posted on the site. just wanted to share my thoughts ony latest 55 gallon. I felt like I need to move my red shoulder severum out of the 125 gallon, away from the now bigger oscars. I been running 2 hob on my 55g African cichlid tank for a number of months now to prep for the new 55g. I also added a big sponge filter to that almost 3 weeks ago to give it a bit of back up maybe? but mostly so I have a sponge ready to go for a hospital tank if needed. ANYWAY I have the 55g filled and got the hob going. I placed some tiger barbs (5 although I plan on making a bigger school once I find decent sized green tigers} as a start up fish. last night they were zooming about the tank. water parameters are ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate 5 ppm yesterday and this afternoon but barbs are now all hiding in a big plant in the corner. The light is fluval eco bright because I don't plan on having live plants in the tank. Light was definitely dim last night and light was on 100% today. Is the light too bright for barbs? I dimmed it now that I am home from work... waiting to see if they come out. How vital is lighting level in non planted tanks?

 

[BIG-G]

The lights only need to be bright enough to see the fish.
It doesn’t matter if you are not growing plants.
You will want to simulate a natural day night cycle.
This can be adjusted to your schedule so you can view the tank when it’s convenient.

It’s natural for fish to try to hide from predators so if the lights are too bright it can make the fish feel exposed and cause them to try to find cover.