Aqueon colormax O.K. for Anabias?

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screech

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Mar 23, 2011
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I had a 36" T-8 25 watt fluorescent lamp burn out last night. It lights a 30 gallon long freshwater aquarium with only 2 Anabius plants in it (and fish). The bulb was an Aqueon 8000K daylight bulb and I was very happy with it . The Anabius grows well and has lots of blossoms. The only downside is I do fight some hair algea. I went to the store that I bought this light from and they don't stock the 8000K but the clerk told me the colormax bulb is a good replacement for the 8000K. I find that the colormax bulb is quite a bit dimmer than my old bulb but the fish do show well in this light, especially the Cherry Barbs. Will this light be adequate for the Anibias? After reading some recent reviews on the Aqueon bulbs, I'm wondering if another brand would be better. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Dan
 

Hr0th9ar

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To be completely honest Anubias would be fine with just ambient light. They are extremely tolerant of low light situations. That bulb will be fine.

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Byron Amazonas

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Yes, they are low light plants so what you now have should be fine. It is also possible that the brush algae will not be a problem either, with less light. I know you called it hair algae, but if it is on the Anubias it is likely a type of brush algae, and Anubias and Java Fern tend to promote brush algae in light that is beyond their needs.
 

screech

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Thanks for the replies. The Aqueon colormax bulb doesn't have any K rating on it so I had no idea what It might do to my Anubias. Still wish it was brighter but I'm hearing even the new Aqueon 8000K daylight bulbs aren't as bright as they used to be. Like Bryon said, maybe my hair or brush algea will disappear.
Thanks,
Dan
 

ktrom13

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The colormax bulb helps promote vibrant colors on your livestock. As for it being suitable or not for anubias, itll be just fine. Ive had it in just ambient lighting situations and it did fine. As for the algae, your best best is to start with a black out period to help rid of most of the algae. After a short black out period you should then start to adjust the amount of time the lights stay on.

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FreshyFresh

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For those who have grown anubias with nothing but ambient light, how much ambient light are we talking? Right up against a window? Just curious, because I've never had luck with plants w/out some type of fluorescent lighting on the tank at a minimum.
 

huapala

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I have two sp. of anubias (nana, lanceolata) in a 10 gallon betta/assorted snail tank. The tank receives no more than 4 hours of light per day (some times less than an hour)from a 13w 6,500 spiral CFL that is suspended 1.5ft above the tank (vertically). The CFL is directly above the tank with the anubias sp. but the it is meant to light the entire bottom shelf of my stand so there is no hood or anything concentrating light onto the tank. The point is the anubias sp. have thrived in these conditions (better than high lighting and Co2 when it was a high tech tank). I would say "ambient" lighting would work if the tank is in a lite room or a room with curtain-less window and sun penetration.
That being said, if all you have is anubias sp. and fish you should think about cutting down the photoperiod or raising the fixture so that the anubias does not have to compete with algae growth. 25w of florescent power directly above your aquarium seems like a lot of extra PAR.
 

ktrom13

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For those who have grown anubias with nothing but ambient light, how much ambient light are we talking? Right up against a window? Just curious, because I've never had luck with plants w/out some type of fluorescent lighting on the tank at a minimum.
By ambient light i meant the light in my room. None of my tank recieve light from the outside world( sunlight) it didnt thrive but it didnt die either.. It grew one new leave in probably 1 month under those conditions.

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Hr0th9ar

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By ambient light i meant the light in my room. None of my tank recieve light from the outside world( sunlight) it didnt thrive but it didnt die either.. It grew one new leave in probably 1 month under those conditions.

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^ Same for me

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