Plant care recs

[Byron]

My current bulb is 40 watts I believe, though when it says it uses 29w that means energy consumption right?

Yes. Watts is the measurement of the amount of energy (electricity) the bulb uses to produce the light. However, that is not always a reliable indication of intensity unless you are comparing identical bulbs that are different wattages. The 9w CFL bulbs I have say they are equivalent to a 40w incandescent bulb.

 

[utahfish]

My current bulb is 40 watts I believe, though when it says it uses 29w that means energy consumption right?

Yup. Make sure its between 5000k and 6500k
Though a bulb with that many watts should have more than 350 watts, odd.
Like i said i woukd try to get a bulb with more lumens.

 

[utahfish]

Yes, I have two 9w CFL 6500K bulbs (screw-in) over each of my 10g and my 20g and the light is ideal. On seven hours daily (at one period).

Yup ive used 6500k cfls over all my tanks as well, they have always worked well and with the advent of LED CFL are cheaper than they were 10 years ago!

 

[Quin]

The package for my lights only say 390 lumens, but the numbers you're listing are really high up. Are those numbers over a period of exposure, or am I reading this wrong? Thank you for your patience too I appreciate it

 

[vanalisa]

They probably say the same about Amazon Sword plants and lots of other plants sold in pet shops. Most plants sold for aquariums are actually marsh plants that spend part of the year underwater, and the rest of the year out of water.

Amazon sword plants, Crypts, Hygrophila species, Alternanthera species, Bolbitis, Bacopa and Ludwigia are all marsh plants that can grow underwater to some degree. Alternanthera is one plant that should not be grown underwater and does best in the garden. The other plants usually do quite well underwater.

Spathiphyllum, purple waffle, lizard tongue and a bunch of other plants are regularly sold as aquarium plants but rot underwater.

The next time you visit a pet shop, have a look at the plants they sell and then visit a nursery/ garden centre and see if you can find the same plants growing in pots.

"Creeping Jenny"

 

[utahfish]

The package for my lights only say 390 lumens, but the numbers you're listing are really high up. Are those numbers over a period of exposure, or am I reading this wrong? Thank you for your patience too I appreciate it

Nope not over a period of exposure. If the lumens are that low im going to assume the bulbs arent 5000K to 6500K bulbs.
5000K-6500k bulbs simulate natural daylight and are brighter and normally have more lumens.

 

[Quin]

Nope not over a period of exposure. If the lumens are that low im going to assume the bulbs arent 5000K to 6500K bulbs.
5000K-6500k bulbs simulate natural daylight and are brighter and normally have more lumens.

Alright thank you. We got this bulb at a lower watt because I wasn't sure whether or not the light would heat up the tank. It is orange rather than the white lights we have in the rest of the house, so I'll have to look for our current bulbs packages to see what they have.

If I leave this one for a set amount of time plus my room light do you think it would be enough? I've heard bettas don't really like a lot of light so I try not to stress mine out

 

[utahfish]

Alright thank you. We got this bulb at a lower watt because I wasn't sure whether or not the light would heat up the tank. It is orange rather than the white lights we have in the rest of the house, so I'll have to look for our current bulbs packages to see what they have.

If I leave this one for a set amount of time plus my room light do you think it would be enough? I've heard bettas don't really like a lot of light so I try not to stress mine out

If none of the bulbs are 5000K-6500k whether room light or tank light they arent going to grow plants well morw likely theyll just grow algae. Get a bulb in 5000K-6500k range and your plants will do much better.

 

[Quin]

If none of the bulbs are 5000K-6500k whether room light or tank light they arent going to grow plants well morw likely theyll just grow algae. Get a bulb in 5000K-6500k range and your plants will do much better.

Thank you, I'll definitely see what I can do about it before getting the plants