Aqueon colormax O.K. for Anabias?

[screech]

Byron, those are some lush looking tanks you have! Beautiful.
I tried floating some Anacharis in my tank a while back and I developed a terrible case of what I would call hair algae. Had to remove the Anacharis or the hair algae was going to take over my tank. I'm wondering if I'll have the same problem with Water Sprite. Maybe the switch from the 8,000 K daylight to the Colormax will help?

 

[Narwhal72]

It's hard to say whether the Colormax will have any positive or negative effects on the hair algae. I have grown watersprite under Aqueon 8000K's before without any issue. It's a floating plant and just spreads across the surface. It's important to keep it trimmed or it will block out the light underneath and your other plants will suffer.

Byron,
I hope you now have a better understanding of light output and how "intensity" has a somewhat subjective definition. It's no surprise to me that your plants did better under the Lifeglo which as I said before is also a very good lamp. The GE lamp was designed for commercial lighting and not designed for growing plants. I found the spectrum for this lamp (GE 6500K Ecolux) and there is very little in the red wavelengths.


Most aquarists would prefer some green light in their setups if just to increase the CRI and make the aquarium look natural to our eyes. It doesn't necessarily mean that it's the best light for growing plants but it may be the best light for the aesthetic appeal of the aquarium.

Andy

 

[screech]

Thanks for all the replies. Think I'll see how the hair algae responds to this new light and maybe dose a little liquid carbon if needed. If the hair algae doesn't thrive, I'll get some Water Sprite and maybe try the Anacharis again (probably anchor the Anacharis to the bottom). Seeing some of these planted tanks make me want to scrap the under gravel filter and get more plants! We'll see how it goes.
Dan