Help With Colormax Bulb.

[severum mama]

Ok. Here is what I meant by my comment.

I grow java fern, java moss, and anubias in a room with windows that is full of aquariums. Some of the tanks have lights over them. Some do not. You are not going to grow these plants in a basement without a light on your tank.

The bulbs you have are fine for these super-simple, super-low maintenance plants. Seriously, they are fine. The plants will grow under those bulbs.

 

[aqua hobbyist]

I know, this thread was to help me find out if color max is ENOUGH for these plants

 

[Maxw47]

IT IS! You just might get algae because the spectrum is unbalanced.

 

[aqua hobbyist]

What other low tech plants can live without ferts, co2, substrate, and non-colormax bulbs?

 

[severum mama]

IT IS! You just might get algae because the spectrum is unbalanced.

What is the basis for this statement?

 

[Maxw47]

Hmmm, java moss, marimo moss balls, I can' think of anything else off the top of my head right now.

 

[TankMan]

.. I'm with severum...

 

[Maxw47]

What is the basis for this statement?

Well in the colormax bulbs there is a lot more red than blue to bring out the colors of fish and plants. Plants need equal amounts of both (unless I am misunderstood). So all of that extra red is going towards algae growth and not plant growth.

 

[aqua hobbyist]

Well only one side of the tank is color max and the other will be 50/50 daylight compact fleuroscent.

 

[severum mama]

Well in the colormax bulbs there is a lot more red than blue to bring out the colors of fish and plants. Plants need equal amounts of both (unless I am misunderstood). So all of that extra red is going towards algae growth and not plant growth.

Going by what, what is printed on the box? The manufacturers print all kinds of stuff on the boxes. I have used "10k" bulbs of brand A that were more yellow than "dual daylight" bulbs of brand B (allegedly 10000k and 6700k combined). The colormax bulbs are fine, I repeat, FINE, for the plants in question, and some others such as bolbitis, cryptocorynes, etc.

It's actually blue that people often say brings out the colors in fish and plants, hence the reason so many African rift lake tanks use actinic bulbs. Those are quite blue, but don't do much for plant growth. I don't pretend to be an expert about lighting and plant growth, but seriously, we are talking about plants that thrive under ambient room lighting in unlit tanks in our fishroom. This is a 10 gallon with soon-to-be 20W screw-in PC lighting over these plants. It's fine.

 

[aqua hobbyist]

What other plants can live under my tanks current conditions?

 

[maxwellag]

What other plants can live under my tanks current conditions?

Java moss, anacharis, duckweed, dwarf water lettuce