what is the color of dark?

[b.reder]

In my quest for a more friendly pleco tank, I have covered three sides of each tank with paper. Now comes the question. What colors do plecos perceive? I wish to darken the daylight hours. My lights have a blue setting as well as the full spectrum lighting. Do the plecos see this blue light at all? If so, do they see nighttime or just a dimming of the normal light? For me- I cannot see well with the blue light only.
-Barry

[Shane]

Barry,
As far as I can tell they perceive all colors. I have a flashlight in the fishroom I can rotate between blue, green, and red lights. Plecos react to all of the colors. You do need some time everyday with full spectrum light. The main reason, assuming you have no live plants and are not trying to grow algae, is to be able to see that the tank and fish are healthy. For my tanks without plants, the lights come on from 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm which is the time period I normally feed and check each tank. They are then dark the other 21 hours a day. This pattern significantly cuts down on both electricity used and algae growth.
-Shane

[b.reder]

Fantastic! That is the info I needed. I’ll go back to full spectrum and place floating plants to diffuse the light. Thanks again, Barry

[thefredpit]

that's what I do I use frogbit and duckweed to diffuse the light

[Jobro]

Frogbit is just so gorgeous! Makes for a neat setup with great atmosphere!

Also, pleco fry really like to eat it!

[bekateen]

Frogbit is just so gorgeous! Makes for a neat setup with great atmosphere!

Except it's hell on your tank when you have an oversized wavemaker/powerhead and strong current.

Cheers, Eric

[Jobro]

Yeah I think most plants will not be able to cope with that Eric

[TwoTankAmin]

It took me years to eradicate duckweed from tanks. I never bought any nor asked for some free. I would suggest that the only effective eradication method requires the use of a flame thrower. At least frogbit is neat looking http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/fish ... 45-800.jpg

Try Bobitus in flow if you have neutral to slightly acidic water. It is a great plant to put near a filter output: http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/plan ... elotii.htm

For those members not yet in their "golden" years, an HMF is much less work than any other filter I have used. It is less work than a planted tank which almost always requires more time and effort than a non-planted tank. It is cheap to operate and very effective. I still have a few planted community tanks, but I am now much more concerned with reducing the work load than I used to be.

[b.reder]

Excuse me! How do you define golden years?

[TwoTankAmin]

Well it depends on how you prefer to define them. I would base it on one's life expectancy. I am just a couple of months shy of hitting 70. According to the USA Census and Social Security Administration, I have 13.7 years left. That would be just over 16% of the average lifespan for a male my age. One could argue that the golden years are the last 1/4 to 1/3 of your expected life span. So I would suggest I am solidly in the golden zone.

[b.reder]

At 68.5, I am close to "Knocking on Heavens Door." Though I live a comfortable lifestyle, I have never stopped working and never stopped exploring. Plecos are but my latest manifestation of this. They are a whole new world for me and should occupy my time for several years. -Barry

[TwoTankAmin]

It isn't the lack of will that is slowing me down. A better way to put it is to quote a line from "Old Folks Boogie" by Little Feat: "You know that you are over the hill when your mind makes a promise that your body can't fill." https://youtu.be/cc5N5KRAZ-s

Another way to explain is that water has gained a lot of weight in the last 18 years.