[APD] Kelvin temp. or total wattage?

["Kelleen Harris" <kelleen_harris at csumb_edu>]

I posted earlier about this. Maybe it was too long. I have been running 130w
(2x65) 10,000K/6700K 50-50 bulbs. I recently added an additional 130w (2x65)
of 5500K. The crypts in the tank started pearling all over the place in less
than 2 hours. What is more responsible for this, the additional wattage or
the Kelvin temp. of the added bulbs?

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated. Chas.

Hi Chas,

I?m usually a lurker, but I thought maybe I could share my experiences with you because I have crypts that pearl like crazy. I?ll start off by saying that I never got pearling before I set up with CO2. My plants now pearl all the time, and it often
goes crazy, looking like a bottle of champagne because of all the trails. I love this and can stare at it for some time, to the amusement of my husband. My crypt wendtii has reached the surface and filled the whole tank, and my anubias get new
leaves all the time, even though they are known to be slow growers. 

Anyway, I am surprised that you weren?t getting pearling already with the 130 watts you were using before?I have much less light than you, only 60 watts! (two 30 watt bulbs on a 50 gallon tank that is 36? inches long) One light is a Power-Glo by
Hagen (18,000K-I realize this is higher than recommended, but it said it was for planted tanks on the box so I tried it, and the color looks good, about $30) and the other is a Lightning Rod Aqua Flora Plus T6, unfortunately don?t know the K on this
one, but looks really nice, was $24). My lights are exactly 16 inches above the substrate, which, if you have a standard 55 gal should be about the same distance, depending on your amount of substrate. 

I set up ?do it yourself? CO2 (in a big grape juice container), substrate is half fluorite and half ordinary aquarium gravel. For CO2 I get approx 22 bubbles per minute out of standard width air tubing and put it into the tank with a fine bubbling
airstone, but no diffuser or anything fancy. If the pearling starts to slow down, I put a capful of Kent Plant fertilizer into the tank, and that?s it. My tank has been set up for about 16 months. By the way, you never mentioned CO2, are you using
any?

Admittedly, I am no expert, but I?m just thinking that you should be able to get pearling with less wattage since crypts don?t need much, and maybe something else is at play besides just the light?how hard is your water? I get mine down to 10 dKH
(still a bit high I know) by mixing with bottled water I purchase. What kind of crypts do you have? 

Kelleen Harris
Kelleen_harris at csumb_edu




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