Thanks for your replies guys.

In answer to your questions. I have three Sumatran clown loaches (I'm
thinking of getting another 2-3, I'm just worried about them being too
cramped) which I have had for about a year. In addition to the heavy-ish
plant cover, they have two tunnelled rocks in the centre of the tank, as
well as an upturned amphora-type thing. On one side of the tank I have a
long hollow piece of driftwood, and on the other side, a faux-tree stump
planted with a queen marble sword which provides a number of hiding places
for the wily loach. I also have 10 black neons to act as "dither" or
"cockatoo" fish. The tank is located between an east and a north facing
window (I'm in the southern hemisphere), and it gets quite a bit of
indirect, as opposed to direct sunlight.

I've seen other loaches out and about during light-hours, and I'm at a loss
to explain why mine are so shy. The only time I really see them being
active is in the morning before the light goes on. When the light is on,
they tend to dash out for food, and then back into the plant thickets at the
back of the tank, which is why I thought the light intensity might be a
problem. But maybe they just need more friends (finally, a really good
excuse to buy more fish - yay).

Kate


"Kate Quirk" wrote in message
...
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