Hey creative people - what can I do with a black glass tank?

So long story short, I wanted to start a community tank, I had it picked out, a 39 gal bow front with the stand. The dimensions were perfect for the space and as it was my first community tank I didn't want to go too big. Well made the mistake of bringing my husband with me to pick it out, (who am I kidding, to carry it out) and he went crazy. He saw the 110 gal, it was on sale and said this is impressive, then he went to the 75 gallon.....he was all over the place. Every large tank he stopped at I would show him the equipment we'd need to go with it, plus all the supplies, and then plants and stocking. This was all so hectic and overwhelming we somehow walked out with the black 10g "GLO" tank (never intending to get GLO fish) and some plan to keep my male Betta in our living room. At first I loved it. It can look really slick (pic attached - terrible picture doesn't do it justice), but it's DARK. Lighting is an issue, no good for a hospital tank because you need bright lights to see. So this story ends with the tank sitting in storage. I ended up getting the 32 gal flex, in the space I initially wanted and it's gorgeous. Perfect size for me to cut my community tank baby teeth on. But.....

What do I do with this black tank?? Suggestions??

 

Shrimp tank? Can we get a picture of it with the lights off.

 

I'd suggest selling it. Doesn't sound like its anything you'd ever use or be happy with.

 

Shrimp tank? Can we get a picture of it with the lights off.

There's a light on but on the side you can see the colour of the glass.

I'd suggest selling it. Doesn't sound like its anything you'd ever use or be happy with.

That was my first thought but if I can figure out what will be happy in there I would like to use it. I have a clear glass QT tank so it'd be a DT of some sort.

 

Well I’m guessing the second pic is the 32g. Very nice!! And good luck with it.

Wow that tank is dark! Why? Funny I saw a posting of a 40+g with the same dark glass. Could it be made for reef tanks? I just don’t see the benefit of dark glass.

 

kind of have to determine if the glass has a film on it or it's smoke tinted glass on the sides and back and it's the glass not a film on it. Some of those are tinted glass and not film, others theres a light film on the glass.

with the glo-fish, they darken it, to make the blacklight leds stronger which make the fish pop.

Maybe change the light and use a lighter substrate to get more light into the tank, the glo-fish tanks tend to be dim on white light and compensate with blue and black to make the glofish "pop".

Dark back and sides aren't necessarily a bad thing but the lighting the tank comes with would be mostly useless and dim without glofish, and you'd probably benefit from a clear tank cover and a new LED full spectum light without the lack light bulbs in it. to brighten it up.

 

100% I’m voting shrimp !!!! Keep it simple, some sand , some wood if you so choose, a gorgeous chunk of Anubias in the centre and some neocaridina . Such entertaining little guys …

oh and the dark sides will hide the biofilm and algae they want to graze on. Win win in my book !

 

Well I’m guessing the second pic is the 32g. Very nice!! And good luck with it.

Wow that tank is dark! Why? Funny I saw a posting of a 40+g with the same dark glass. Could it be made for reef tanks? I just don’t see the benefit of dark glass.

That's the actual 10 g tank. This is my 32 g which I'm obsessed with. Still have soooo much to learn, especially with plants.

Wow that tank is dark! Why? Funny I saw a posting of a 40+g with the same dark glass. Could it be made for reef tanks? I just don’t see the benefit of dark glass

I'm guessing for the black light effect? In my mind the black glass would be nice in my living room, which was true, if I'm just staring at the glass lol. It did look awesome with the blue light and minimalist decor but what can live in that?

kind of have to determine if the glass has a film on it or it's smoke tinted glass on the sides and back and it's the glass not a film on it. Some of those are tinted glass and not film, others theres a light film on the glass.

with the glo-fish, they darken it, to make the blacklight leds stronger which make the fish pop.

Maybe change the light and use a lighter substrate to get more light into the tank, the glo-fish tanks tend to be dim on white light and compensate with blue and black to make the glofish "pop".

Dark back and sides aren't necessarily a bad thing but the lighting the tank comes with would be mostly useless and dim without glofish, and you'd probably benefit from a clear tank cover and a new LED full spectum light without the lack light bulbs in it. to brighten it up.

Well that's smart. I never thought of switching up the lights.

100% I’m voting shrimp !!!! Keep it simple, some sand , some wood if you so choose, a gorgeous chunk of Anubias central and some neocaridina . Such entertaining little guys …

oh and the dark sides with hide the biofilm and algae they want to graze on. Win win in my book !

Wow. I never thought about shrimp. Interesting! That sounds like a good idea!

 

I'm not sure how you feel about creepy crawlies, but if you wanted to take advantage of the UV glow thing it's got going on, you could try some kind of scorpion or centipede with bioluminescence? I THINK there are some scorps that can fit in that tank and will glow. That's just off the top of my head though, research would be needed.

Alternatively, you could go reef and corals only? Maybe a load of contrasting zoas and some mushrooms, for an easy tank. They look amazing under blues.

Interested to hear what you end up doing with it! I love a dark tank, but you usually only get that with tannins. Helpful for fish like lampeyes, neon rainbows or sparkling gouramis? I can't see the pic very well, but the blue iridescence might pop through in a dark tank.

 

I'm not sure how you feel about creepy crawlies, but if you wanted to take advantage of the UV glow thing it's got going on, you could try some kind of scorpion or centipede with bioluminescence? I THINK there are some scorps that can fit in that tank and will glow. That's just off the top of my head though, research would be needed.

Alternatively, you could go reef and corals only? Maybe a load of contrasting zoas and some mushrooms, for an easy tank. They look amazing under blues.

Interested to hear what you end up doing with it! I love a dark tank, but you usually only get that with tannins. Helpful for fish like lampeyes, neon rainbows or sparkling gouramis? I can't see the pic very well, but the blue iridescence might pop through in a dark tank.

I'd have nightmares with the creepy crawlers.... can't do bugs. I love the coral idea!!! And the sparkling gouramis! Thank you so much! Hmm more to think about. This community is incredible

 

I'd have nightmares with the creepy crawlers.... can't do bugs. I love the coral idea!!! And the sparkling gouramis! Thank you so much! Hmm more to think about. This community is incredible

I'm sorry!

Hey, I wondered, what would it look like if you lit it from behind the tank? How well does the light come through? Would it look like one of those lighted background things? Maybe lie a strip light along the bottom, or set up a desk lamp to shine out from the back? Might not make a difference, but that might be cool.

It is! I love fishlore.

 

I'm sorry!

Hey, I wondered, what would it look like if you lit it from behind the tank? How well does the light come through? Would it look like one of those lighted background things? Maybe lie a strip light along the bottom, or set up a desk lamp to shine out from the back? Might not make a difference, but that might be cool.

It is! I love fishlore.

Don't be sorry! I really appreciate the brain storming. I think light from the back or bottom would look really good. I've also been looking at how I can modify my bookshelf so it looks built-in. I just need to create access points as there's a fixed shelf in the middle of the bookshelf. But backlit sounds interesting! Especially if it's going in the bookshelf.

 

Make sure you give yourself space to get your hands in the tank to do maintenance or it just becomes a chore and you won’t want to do it .

you could go blue dreams , tangerines , yellows , cherries , green jades for shrimp ! What’s your favourite colour ? What’s the substrate colour going to be ? If dark, go for bright shrimp , if light go for dark shrimp , but cherry’s look great on any in my opinion !

 

Make sure you give yourself space to get your hands in the tank to do maintenance or it just becomes a chore and you won’t want to do it .

you could go blue dreams , tangerines , yellows , cherries , green jades for shrimp ! What’s your favourite colour ? What’s the substrate colour going to be ? If dark, go for bright shrimp , if light go for dark shrimp , but cherry’s look great on any in my opinion !

Yes that's the trick, there's gotta be maintenance space. It would definitely require some modifications. I'm looking at shrimp tanks for inspiration and to see if that's something I'd do. I love the hard scaping opportunities.

 

Oh since that’s the 10 it really doesn’t look bad at all with the light on. Shrimp would be great in that tank. Wonder how it would look with a full spectrum light?
32 looks great but what is the black netting across the top? This tank is clear glass?

 

Oh since that’s the 10 it really doesn’t look bad at all with the light on. Shrimp would be great in that tank. Wonder how it would look with a full spectrum light?
32 looks great but what is the black netting across the top? This tank is clear glass?

Yes it's clear and that mesh is on the glass. It comes like that to sort of camouflage the top I guess. I guess the lighting in the 10 is what's going to make all the difference. Don't know why I didn't think about changing the lighting.

 

Honestly crystal reds look fantastic in dark tanks like this and just really pop. Add some brighter green moss or plants and really set off the look.
There are also blue bolts, red bolts, and various caridina shrimp that will stand out well - and golden back yellow or 24k yellow shrimp would also work.
I would switch to something like flourite dark or flourite sand substate so it isn't as dark, but it isn't all bad to have a painted tank if the fish aren't a darker species (or one that will try to blend with the darker background).

 

Dark back and sides aren't necessarily a bad thing but the lighting the tank comes with would be mostly useless and dim without glofish, and you'd probably benefit from a clear tank cover and a new LED full spectum light without the lack light bulbs in it. to brighten it up.

Yes! I have a glass lid and a different set of lights. Not the greatest but also not "GLO" tank lights. Maybe attach both ?

 

Yes! I have a glass lid and a different set of lights. Not the greatest but also not "GLO" tank lights. Maybe attach both ?

Yes, if you have it, give it a shot. The glow fish lights are sort of a black light type thing, kind of dim, but putting a white light should increase the color quality of the light and brightness. Many people blackout tanks on the sides and back and it looks fine with a regular light so I think it's just the quality of the light sold in the glofish setups so that it highlights the glofish but is otherwise dim.

 

Yes, if you have it, give it a shot. The glow fish lights are sort of a black light type thing, kind of dim, but putting a white light should increase the color quality of the light and brightness. Many people blackout tanks on the sides and back and it looks fine with a regular light so I think it's just the quality of the light sold in the glofish setups so that it highlights the glofish but is otherwise dim.

Of course! I thought the dark glass was my issue - it's the lights. It now seems obvious, now that you've shed a little light on the subject , (pun intended)