Loaches Online Forum

Hello Loaches Online,
First time poster, long time information-acquiring lurker. This website has proven invaluable! Thanks to everyone involved in its maintenance.

I have a question I've been wrestling with and I would love some feedback as I approach the set-up phase of a new fish tank. I'm in the process of setting up a new tank with a focus on a school of clowns (+ friends), and I've come down to one last decision/dilemma purchase: Lighting. I'm going to get a pair of glass canopy tops (probably the All-glass Versa Tops) and lay the lighting directly on top (or on those little mounting feet some fixtures come with) because the tank is set to live in an area where mounted/hanging lights won't really be appropriate.

I was first planning on having a typical fluorescent fixture (one long one or 2 shorter ones ) on a timer set to come on after the natural sunrise and set to turn off before the natural sunset, maybe 4-6 hours a day depending on the season. But I've been researching some LED fixtures, which led to the idea of LED moonlights and now I can't decide how to proceed. There are several fixtures on the market in the LED area, fixtures with fluorescents and blue LED's mixed in, some with both white and blue LED's for a daytime option or a setting for only the blues to act as a moonlight; there are fixtures out there with just compact strips of blue LED's for moonlights, etc etc. I'm not really focusing on any plants so HO or T5s or other higher intensity lighting systems seems like overkill in addition to the general dim-light loving nature of clowns. I'm considering a pair of LED fixtures; one for daytime, either all whites or white + blue, and a strip of blues for moonlighting. One thing I don't really understand is that the units with both white and blue LED's in them seem to only be manual transition and I'd like to timer the entire operation; hence the idea of a pair of fixtures.

My question is for general feedback on people's lighting set-ups or advice on how to go about setting mine up. Do any of you run a moonlight in a freshwater tank? on a timer? Do any of you run daytime LED fixtures? Will white LED's in general be brighter than fluorescent and as such sub-optimal for clown loach conditions? As always any feedback is much appreciated! I have done my best to pore through the archived posts via search but never really found anyone directly discussing the lighting question in regards to LED vs. fluoro for a non planted tank.

Hi, I will kick things of for you, though I don't have a lot to add as I have not done much experimentation with lighting.

I have 2 x 58W T5 tubes behind a perspex "coverglass" in my Clown Loach aquarium. At first I thought it was a little dim, but I am happy with it now I have fitted reflectors.

I tried various tubes and found I like the Hagen Aquaglo ones best. They give off a warm-feeling pinkish light that I associate with aquariums and which is different to other lights.

I tried daylight and other tubes but didn't like the light at all.

I may try Grolux tubes which are also pinkish and are much cheaper than the Aquaglo ones. I have one in another aquarium and it seems fine.

My Clown Loaches are always out and entertaining me when the lights are on. They do not hide or wait for the lights to go out. I suspect they associate me with food and I always feed them small amounts when I am in the living room.