Java moss

[aqua hobbyist]

Which plant will do better in my tanks current condition Vals or dwarf sags?

2 10 watt cfls
no co2
no ferts
no plant substrate, only big rocks and little gravel
Mopani wood

 

[Maxw47]

You can't grow dwarf sag and vals with big gravel. I already told you this. Both won't grow with incandescent, get cfls.

 

[aqua hobbyist]

I just bought cfls

 

[Maxw47]

What is the color tempreture? Number with a K at the end

 

[aqua hobbyist]

I'm not sure, but it's equal to 50 watts incandescent

 

[Maxw47]

Well it says colormax. I am not sure what the color temp of that is. If anybody knows please say so. I do not think it is the greatest for plants. It is built towards making fish look better. You might end up with some algae because of this. Also, what are you going to do about substrate?

 

[aqua hobbyist]

The color is white/ blue

I'm not adding substrate, I'm only getting plants that can live on mopani wood

Oh, I forgot they're returnable, thanks for the idea, anubius and java miss will still do well in the tank under 10 watts of incandescent, right?

Could I just add ferts if there was algae

What ferts should I use if there's algae frowth

 

[Maxw47]

Ya but we need a number. Is there a little graph on the package? I could just compare that to mine and tell you what I think.

 

[aqua hobbyist]

first pic: package

second pic: bulb in tank

 

[Maxw47]

Is there a little graph with colors on the package? If so upload a pic.

 

[aqua hobbyist]

Side numbers count by 25 and number below count by hundreds starting at 300

 

[Maxw47]

See how there is a lot of red and not much green or blue. That isn't good for plants. The graph just gives me a general idea. I'll try and see if I can find the color temp

 

[aqua hobbyist]

What does the red stand for, well is the bulb good enough for LOW LIGHT plants? It's better than an incandescent bulb right?

 

[Maxw47]

Ya it is better than the incandescent. This bulb has a lot more red in it because that is what makes things more appealing to the human eye. For a good bulb, it should be about equal with blue (plants need both). But if they are inbalanced, the excess will go towards algae growth. So these bulbs will be fine for growing plants, it's just that you will probably run into algae. Then tht might start causing problems.

 

[aqua hobbyist]

I don't mind the algae

So is it good enough for the plants

 

[Maxw47]

Ya it should be fine. But algae will probably get on your plants leaves and restrict photosynthesis, slowing the overall growth of your plant. Plus it doesn't look to good.

 

[aqua hobbyist]

Won't the shrimp and pleco eat the algae, I do water changes almost everyday!

 

[Maxw47]

Water changes won't discourage algae. I thought you were getting rid of your pleco? It will clean glass, not plants. The shrimp will help, but just returning these and getting new lights would solve the problem all together.

 

[Bubbles0oO]

Won't the shrimp and pleco eat the algae, I do water changes almost everyday!

Dont do them every day. Do them every week. Every day is stressful. And shrimp and plecos will eat algae but each one eats to its desire. If it Dosent like one algae it wont eat it.

 

[Maxw47]

Algae from an incorrect spectrum cannot be eliminated by adding ferts. Those are two different problems. Those plants will probably not do well under incandescent light. Here is my advice. Return the cfls you just bought. Buy new cfls with a color temp of around 6,500K. After 1-2 weeks of that light, check for algae. If there is more than you would like, start dosing the recommended dose of ferts every two weeks (after water changes). Wait another 1-2 weeks. If there is still a good amount of algae, start dosing ferts every week (still after water changes). That should be enough to get rid of algae. I use Seachem Flourish, great fertilizer.