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Re: [APD] Kelvin temp. or total wattage?




Thanks to everyone who responded. Thank you Kelleen for breaking out of your
normal "lurker" mode and sharing your experience with me. Bill was curious
about how old my existing 10k/67k 50-50 bulbs were. They are only about 4
months old, the 55k's I added had already about 1.5yrs. use on them when
they were put back into service. Kelleen asked if I inject Co2 and the
answer is yes. I test regularly at about 16-19ppm Co2. I very much want a
high growth lush looking tank. I don't have a preference for high or low
tech and money is not too big an obstacle so long as the purchase is cost
effective. I've been tending to this tank for about 2+ years as a planted
tank and have thus far only experienced what I would say are sub standard to
average results. APD is an awesome medium to exchange information with gurus
who know what I need to know, but it seems difficult to determine what I
need to ask. I get the impression from reading things written by Mr. Barr
and the like, that there is so much to know I'm unsure what to begin asking
in order to obtain positive results. I am persistent and I am in love with
my aquarium and enjoy the time I spend on it, so I'm certain I will
eventually procure a respectable aquascape. Anyone with suggestions please
feel free to educate me. Thanks again, Chas.



------------------------------

>Message: 12
>Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2005 18:16:27 -0800
>From: "Kelleen Harris" <kelleen_harris at csumb_edu>
>Subject: [APD] Kelvin temp. or total wattage?
>To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com

>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


>How old were your original two 65 watt bulbs? Light output will degrade
>over time, it's possible the new bulbs increased the light over your tank
>by more than just what the wattages alone would seem to indicate.

>Also, with a mix of 10000K and 6700K, you're getting a pretty blue-shifted
>spectrum. It's possible your plants are just liking the boost in the red
>part of the spectrum you're getting with the 5500K lights. It's true that
>most plants are usually not very picky about color temperatures, but being
>heavily weighted on one end of the useful spectrum can sometimes produce
>unusual growth.

>     -Bill

>*****************************
>Waveform Technology
>Systems Engineer







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