Lighting for pond in Basement

I read an article that said fish do not care about lighting. So when I moved
my fish into the dark basement I made no lighting provisions. Any past
experience on fish and lighting ? The indoor pond is 4' x 4' x 3 deep 300
gallons. The water temp will be about 72° all winter. I am looking at a
cover to reduce humidity loss and hold heat in. I thought about putting a
light though the top and hanging it so the base is outside the cover and the
body is inside. This would provide some heat and lighting.

I've kept my fish in the dark for a week at times and I can tell that they
can tell the difference. I'm not sure if it harms them though. I dont think
anyone can answer that question. I know that certain fish lose their colors
when they are in the dark.

"Mickey" wrote in message
...
I read an article that said fish do not care about lighting. So when I
moved
my fish into the dark basement I made no lighting provisions. Any past
experience on fish and lighting ? The indoor pond is 4' x 4' x 3 deep 300
gallons. The water temp will be about 72° all winter. I am looking at a
cover to reduce humidity loss and hold heat in. I thought about putting a
light though the top and hanging it so the base is outside the cover and
the
body is inside. This would provide some heat and lighting.

"Mickey" wrote in message
I read an article that said fish do not care about lighting. So when I moved
my fish into the dark basement I made no lighting provisions. Any past
experience on fish and lighting ? The indoor pond is 4' x 4' x 3 deep 300
gallons. The water temp will be about 72° all winter. I am looking at a
cover to reduce humidity loss and hold heat in. I thought about putting a
light though the top and hanging it so the base is outside the cover and the
body is inside. This would provide some heat and lighting.

I'm not sure I'm picturing this right, but you don't want the hot bulb to
get splashed with cool water. Check out aquarium hoods for an idea on how
to build something perhaps? I'd probably use shop lights suspended from the
ceiling. Enough light and you might "hopefully" produce some algae on the
sides of the pond as a fresh food source. ~ jan


See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

put tent over the holding pond, hang 4' fluorescent light outside the plastic.put on
timer for 6 hours. best way to deal with light. be sure to run good aeration in
there and run all the time. you really dont want it warmer, cooler down to 60o is
even better, less need to feed, less waste. what kind of filter you using? Ingrid

"Mickey" wrote:

I read an article that said fish do not care about lighting. So when I moved
my fish into the dark basement I made no lighting provisions. Any past
experience on fish and lighting ? The indoor pond is 4' x 4' x 3 deep 300
gallons. The water temp will be about 72° all winter. I am looking at a
cover to reduce humidity loss and hold heat in. I thought about putting a
light though the top and hanging it so the base is outside the cover and the
body is inside. This would provide some heat and lighting.




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compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

I use a grow-light florescent light over my indoor pond when I bring the fish
in for the winter. Their colors stay brighter and I get a little good algee
growth for them to eat. I also bring in some of my more tropical plants and
they love the light too. I have the light on a timer for around 7 hours. I
have noticed that both the fish and plants do better if I keep them together
just like in the outdoor pond. I also run a filter and air bubbler.

This indoor pond is connected to my heavily planted Aquariums. Lowering the
temperatures is not really an option the Tropical fish would not like it. I
have three Aquariums on the main level of the house 30 gallon, 90 gallon and
30 gallon that run into a sump in the basement. This sump houses the
thermometers, heaters, and biological filter system. When I put the indoor
pond in I replaced the small 30 gallon sump with the 300 gallon indoor pond
in the basement. The aeration comes from the return water falling about a
foot before return to the sump. The sump type system has been running for 2
years with good results, sure makes maintenance easier. I am going to put a
40 watt light over the sump for the winter on a timer I have an aquarium one
not being used. I doubt if I can grow algae in the sump the plants use all
the nutrients. Hopefully I can through the extra tropical plants in the sump
as a treat for the fish.

"Mickey" wrote in message
...
I read an article that said fish do not care about lighting. So when I
moved
my fish into the dark basement I made no lighting provisions. Any past
experience on fish and lighting ? The indoor pond is 4' x 4' x 3 deep 300
gallons. The water temp will be about 72° all winter. I am looking at a
cover to reduce humidity loss and hold heat in. I thought about putting a
light though the top and hanging it so the base is outside the cover and
the
body is inside. This would provide some heat and lighting.