Subdued Lighting for a non-planted tank...how?

[franmorr1966]

Hi. I'd like to create subdued lighting in my tank in the most cost effective manner. I've put foil under the light strip to drown out some of the light. What about bulbs? Thanks.

[cider]

hi fran,
humm, have you considered adding wood to the tank, if you don't boil it before adding, you will get tea-colored water which some people like and consider natural to some fish. The tannins will leech out of the wood and tints the water. Just an alternative idea to lighting changes. hth
G

[franmorr1966]

That's an idea. I have a fake wood cave right now. I used to do the driftwood in the old days. Will make the water more acidic, though, not that that would be a problem with the fish I have. The foil really works, so I just stick to it. Just looking for a different effect I suppose. I should post a before foil/after foil pic. LOL Thanks.

[glenna]

Are you TOTALLY non-plant???
I accidentally got some duck weed in on a plant order and it is just perfect for fine tuning the light in the tank. It floats and reproduces really easily (I think it just divides on its own). It is like a floating little garden on top and the light diffusing through it is very pretty, and can be quite dim. When it gets too dark, you just scoop out what you don't want (you can put it in another tank, but honestly, mine is so prolific that I end up throwing a lot of it away )

Just a thought

[franmorr1966]

Hi Glenna.

Yep, totally non plant. I supplement for the silver dollars. Floating duckweed is a good idea. But I still bet I need strong lighting even for that.

[glenna]

not that I am pushing duckweed, but I have no problem growing it, even in my kitchen tank, which is not a well lit room, and the light is simply the stock black plastic hood with strip fluoro light that came in the tank kit. I think it's really easy stuff to grow!

[franmorr1966]

Ok, well maybe I should buy more duckweed and try again. Maybe the silver dollars will graze on it too. Thanks again.

[raedeon]

If you have a hang-on filter, duckweed can get underneath the incoming water and get pushed down into the intake pipe or block the prefilter sponge. That's something to watch out for with duckweed.

[UVvis]

Different colored markers on the glass under the bulb/tube works too. Standard black sharpie does pretty well, and you can reverse it easily with some alcohol or window cleaner.

[palaeodave]

You could switch off the fluorescent bulb and just fit a single strip of low-output LED. If it doesn't cover the full length of the tank it can create quite a cool effect where the fish can swim in and out of the light as they please.