Java moss lighting

[Drayven]

Ok so here's the situation. I recently purchased a lighting fixture for my 50 gallon tank so that I could try and get some live plants in there, first tank btw and it's still cycling. The fixture came with 4 39w bulbs, 2 of them were 12000k and 2 were actinic. The amazon swords I put in were struggling a bit so I swapped out the actinic bulbs with 2 6500K bulbs. Well the swords ended up pretty much dying off so I've decided to get rid of them for now and just use plastic for the time being and I will be starting a planted tank as sort of my own nursery to populate the tank with. I would however like to have something live in the fish tank to help combat algae so I was thinking of putting some java moss in and attaching it to my driftwood. The question is though if I were to remove the 6500s and set them aside for the planted tank and use the 12000Ks and actinics would that be enough for the java moss? I kinda like the way the actinics enhance the colors so I think I'd really like to try and work them back in there but I'm afraid that mixing them with the 6500s will just make things too blue.

 

[neilanh]

I'd keep the 6500s and mix them with the actinics. 6500K is in a good range for plants to be able to utilize the light, 12000K, while it will work, is slightly high.

The actinics won't be beneficial to the plants, but they'll do no harm and I agree, they help bring out the colors. I run that mix on my planted tank.

 

[dskidmore]

Java moss doesn't take too much light. Whatever you have is fine. Personally I'd recommend some fast growing stem plants for nutrient reduction.

 

[runninwoof]

java moss needs only a tinyyyyyy bit of light. i have java moss in my bettas tank in the middle of the kitchen with no light, and it keeps growing

 

[mgamer20o0]

old joke about java moss growing in the dark..... i agree with dslidmore. one thing to note is swords tend to be grown out of water so there is a transition time for them.

 

[Drayven]

Maybe I'll give it another go and just get like 1 or 2 plants and see if I can keep thema live for a while rather than putting in like 6 at a time. Do you think the 2x39w T5 HO 6700K bulbs will be enough or should I put the 12Ks back in?

 

[dskidmore]

80 watts over 50 gallons... Just keep to the low-light varieties.

 

[mgamer20o0]

how long is the tank?

 

[Drayven]

It's a 50 gallon breeder so it's 36x18x18

 

[mgamer20o0]

do you want to keep with low light or possible med light?

 

[Drayven]

I want to stay with the easiest possible things to keep alive for right now. A green thumb, I have not

 

[mgamer20o0]

java moss crypts anubias java ferns are the lowest light plants out there.