Loaches Online Forum

How much light do loaches need a day? My loach tank is in a pretty dark spot and I normally only keep the light on for about 5 hours a day but they get trickled light from the rest of the room - is that enough?? Too much? Too Little?

My loaches HATE light, the only light that i can leave on is my blue lunar light. If i turn the tank light on the hide, room light they hide even by opening the door when its day time they hide . The only guys that stay out are my new 1" oddball clowns and my sids. Other than that the tank looks empty. But if the room is left dark mostly all of them are doing the loach dance till i feed them or gets late and they retreat to their "homes".

Mine don't seem to hate the light but my fiance and I have been, shall we say... arguing... about how much light they should get each day. I have their light on a timer and they were getting about 5 hours or so (and not subdued either but they really don't seem to mind, the dojos, botias, black loaches and even the pangios will play out in the light). So the kids don't seem to mind the light one way or another - was just wondering if anyone know of a "minimum" of daylight they should get a day - we suffer from lack of light, gotta assume they do too to some extent. And can't seem to find much of anything other than things saying provide lots of hiding places (which they have) and subdued light (which doesn't seem to phase them either way)...

*Shrug*

I tell my loaches that if they want the plants they can deal with the light and that's just how it is!

Most fish do not really need much light. The ambient room lighting is enough of a day/night cycle for them.

If you are growing plants in the tank then keep the plants thriving. This will call for more light than most fish want or need.

Having hiding places ranging from floating plants or tall plants to caves or arches of driftwood is good for most fish.

In nature most fish prefer not to be exposed to predators. In a bright area it is like they are out in the open in their lake or river, and can be seen by birds and other predators. Many fish will get paler in color so they are harder to see under these conditions.
If there are appropriate hiding places nearby then the fish will show better colors.
If the tank is dark from dark substrate even if the light is bright the fish are more likely to be out and showing rich colors.

So it is not light all by itself that makes the fish show off or go into hiding. It is the whole set up.

Awesome... they don't seem to mind it so much and I guess it'll just depend on how I end up planting my new 55 gallon. Any plants you guys have noticed that the loaches seem to prefer? And/or ones that'll hold up to them using em as their personal jungle gym? I've tried a few here and there but so far only java fern and my anubis has survived...

I have subdued light in my tank, shaded by the floating plants. My fish are more outgoing, unafraid to get out into the middle of the tank, because they know they can hide amid the java moss and other floaters. I'm not sure that constant bright light is even good for them. They don't have that in nature, so it can't be natural for them in the tank.

-- Dojosmama

I've got very bright T5 on my tank and all of the loaches are out constantly, showing no fear whatsoever. About a third of the surface is covered in floating plants (I call them water lettuce but I don't know what it really is) but they show no particular preference for being there over the exposed part except for when they're foraging in the roots of the floating plants. So I'm not sure lighting is an overwhelming factor in loach behaviour.

my 90 gallon had a nice large light that came with it. i have two blue moon lights attached to the tank. well, now that i turned off the large light and just left the blue moon light at night. they are much happier and more playful. the only light my loaches get is the light coming int he window with the blinds closed. so the room will light up but its not an overpowering light. its a little dull. the loaches come out more often as well with dim light. imho.

What would the optimal conditions be then? I would like to grow live plants in my tank, but even now, I only have a 40 watt bulb in a 55g long tank and i can barely grow anubias! Are there any good plants for very low light conditions?

My java moss grows in almost no light.