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![]() | Would Soft White Lighting Be Ok... |
T/A![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Mega Fish Posts: 942 Kudos: 1796 Registered: 20-Feb-2004 ![]() ![]() | Just wondering what people thought. Would Willow Moss and Hornwort grow when using just a normal soft white fluorescent light? |
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FRANK![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Moderator Posts: 5108 Kudos: 5263 Votes: 1690 Registered: 28-Dec-2002 ![]() ![]() ![]() | Hi, Normal, "Soft White" fluorescent lighting is used for home, office, lighting for reading. It is muted and not the best for plants. Bulbs that are labeled DAYLIGHT or SUNLIGHT are rated at 6700K and have the harsh light of sunlight. While I think the plants would survive, I'm not sure how well they would grow, especially as compared to being grown in the "correct" light. Frank ![]() -->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<-- |
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T/A![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Mega Fish Posts: 942 Kudos: 1796 Registered: 20-Feb-2004 ![]() ![]() | Yeah I sort of figured that. Just thought I'd ask. I do have daylight bulbs for 3 of my tanks. But I just setup another 10 gallon just for breeding my Platies. And the only available lighting that I have is two full hoods with screw-in bulbs. I know there are daylight fluorescents in that form, but I was hoping I didn't have to buy anything new for this tank. I think I'm just going to try it out. If the plants start dieing off, I'll just move them into one of my other tanks. Would adding a clear incandescent bulb along with the fluorescent bulb add any benefit? |
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T/A![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Mega Fish Posts: 942 Kudos: 1796 Registered: 20-Feb-2004 ![]() ![]() | It's been a few weeks now, so I wanted to share what's happening. I split up the hornwort and willow moss each into 3 portions: #1--> 1 portion for my 10 gallon Platy fry tank. That's the tank with the "soft white" fluorescents, 26 watts in total. #2--> 1 portion for my divided 10 gallon Betta tank. Over that tank I have about half of a 4 foot shop light with two 40watt, 6500K fluorescent bulbs. #3--> 1 portion for my 10 gallon ADF tank. The same lighting as tank #2 is used for this tank. To make a long story short I'll just say that the Hornwort in tank #1(soft white lights) is now more than 3 times the size of the other tanks. Every day I notice more growth and lots of pearling in this tank. While the other tank's growth is very minimal over a weeks time and never seem to have any pearling. Everything that I've read and heard, always states that you need "daylight" bulbs to have success with live plants. I had no reason to doubt any of that advice, but I wanted to try the normal "soft white" fluorescents anyway. Imagine my surprise when each and every day those "soft white" lights continue to produce great growth in the Hornwort I have floating in the tank. |
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bensaf![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Fish Master Posts: 1978 Kudos: 1315 Registered: 08-Apr-2004 ![]() ![]() | Everything that I've read and heard, always states that you need "daylight" bulbs to have success with live plants. Must have been reading in the wrong places, shoulda come here first ![]() ![]() I've always maintained that spectrum means squat to plant growth. It's purely an aesthetic issue on how the different spectrums will render plant and fish colors. I've got a number of different bulbs over my tank, none of them the "right" spectrum. 10,000k, 12,000k and 4500k. (very hard to find the daylight in PC and T5 formats here). I don't think I'd like the color rendering from all soft white bulbs, but I've no doubt they'll grow plants just fine. Looks wise I like the mix of 6500k and 10,000K , just haven't been able to find another set of 6500K to replace my old ones. Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability. |
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T/A![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Mega Fish Posts: 942 Kudos: 1796 Registered: 20-Feb-2004 ![]() ![]() | "Must have been reading in the wrong places, shoulda come here first" Well I've been using this site for over 2 years now, and I know I've asked questions and read about lighting. But I guess I didn't ask the right person. ![]() I didn't think I'd like the look of the "soft white" lights either, but honestly it's not bad at all. It looks very similar to my 25 gallon, which has a 5500K bulb. |
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FRANK![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Moderator Posts: 5108 Kudos: 5263 Votes: 1690 Registered: 28-Dec-2002 ![]() ![]() ![]() | Hi, Plants use the light from the red and blue parts of the spectrum. Red is at the lower end, and blue, the upper end. If you were to take black me it would turn colors from black to red and up to a blue white color. These temperatures are expressed in "Degrees Kelvin." The chart that I mentioned in an earlier post shows compact fluorescent bulbs and the Degrees Kelvin for the various white bulbs. The lower end of the bulbs in the 2000 to say 5000 is also called the "warm or warm white" area. It is in the "red" end so to speak and will grow plants very well. However, it is also a "soft" white light and not very "bright" leaving tanks looking poorly lit or even yellow in color. Lights that are at the other end of the spectrum tend tend toward the blue part of the spectrum, will penetrate deeper into the water column (good for tanks 24 inches or deeper), and in the extreme will tend to wash out some of the greens making the plants look washed out. These bulbs being in the blue part of the spectrum will also grow plants, but again the tanks become too harsh to look at. They can appear to look as if the tropical, noon day sun, is glaring down on the tank and your eyes. These bulbs are generally 10,000 to 20,000K and higher. They are especially useful for saltwater reef tanks and most of the time, they are mixed with bulbs of lower "K" ratings to ease the harshness of the light. Over all, for a freshwater tank, planted or not, the bulbs with the 6,500-8,800K range are the best middle of the road bulbs. They produce the best CRI ( greens look green, reds look red, etc.) and will grow plants perfectly fine. Frank ![]() -->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<-- |
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