On Mon, 9 Dec 2002 08:42:30 +1000, "Kate Quirk"
wrote:

You did not mention what kinds of loaches you have, but most loaches
are nocturnal. So any light is going to cause them to hide. You say
the tank gets some natural light. Well the sun is brighter than most
anything you can place over your tank. I would not mess with color as
it may cause your plants to grow strangely.

Hi,

I've got a 40 gal low tech tank (3ft x 1.5ft x 1.5 ft) which is reasonably
heavily planted with various swords, chain swords, crypts, and something
that I believe is called blue strike. I have two 30w gro-lux bulbs, but
usually only have one switched on as this seems to be sufficient for the
plants (tank gets some natural light).

My problem is that even this amount of light seems too much for my loaches,
and I was wondering if there is anything I can do to alter the
intensity/colour of the light so that it is more subdued for the fish, but
still enough for the plants? I had considered doing something blue-peterish
with blue/red/purple cellophane in the hope that it was reduce light
intensity without interfering with the blue-red spectrum.

Any comments or suggestions gratefully received,

Thanks,

Kate