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Roxanne's Light Question
Roxanne writes:
>
> OK, so noone wanted to take a crack at my "flat cryptocoryne" question.
> Maybe you all _like_ your crypts flat, I don't know.
> I did some reading about lights on the Krib and read Richard Sexton's
> article on "Artificial Lighting" of aquaria and he suggests that, if you
> are using fluorescents, a mixture of the folowing is best:
>
> 1 plant light (such as regular Gro Lux)
> 2 wide spectrum plant lights (such as Gro Lux WS)
> 1 Chroma 75 or equivalent (such as VitaLite 75 = 7500K)
>
> This involves 4 tubes, which is what many of today's fixtures
> allow.
>
> Does anyone have comments on this setup? It is pretty different from my
> current one, which consists of 4 Trichromatics (Corallife). I agree that a
> mixture of lights is a good idea, but what is the best mix?
I can't help you with your flat crypts, but at the intensity level you have
achieved in your tank, you could probably use any bulb and get great
growth. If you are looking to diversify your bulbs I would recommend you
consider the needs of your eyes less than the needs of your plants! And
who knows, by dumb luck your crypts might stop misbehaving ;-) The
trichromatic is a nice daylight substitute, but IMO it casts a rather
ghastly greenish tone over everything on its own. However, balanced with
a Triton bulb, the resulting light is warm and very "white" in appearance.
My advice on your lights would be to take out your two center
trichromatics and replace one with the Triton and the other with a GE
Chroma50 (now called "sunshine" or the like and available at the home
depot for $6) Both of these bulbs are "warmer" in color than the
trichromatic, the Triton being a little pink and the Chroma50 being a
little yellow. I think you will be stunned by the colors you weren't
seeing in your tank under this new lighting! At the very least, throw one
triton in and see what you think.
Just my two cents.
-Eric