# Plant Light Help



## rachelrose221 (Jun 10, 2013)

Hey guys I need some help with finding a light for my plants.

I currently have a moss ball and java moss in my tank (3g). The moss ball has been doing fine and my betta loves sleeping next to it.
Two months ago I bought a little packet of java moss to add to my tank. My betta also enjoys swimming through it and will hangout in it from time to time. But I'm worried about the color of the java moss. When I first got it it wasn't exactly the brightest of greens, but it had a nice color to it. It seemed to be faring well. I had to trim it back every once in a while and my betta loved it. But now looking at it, the moss has gone from a green to a more brown-green. I think this is because it does not get very much sunlight. To combat this I have been looking around for a light I can give it so it gets nutrients, but I can't seem to find anything. Do you guys have any tips on what I can do?


----------



## givemethatfish (Feb 10, 2014)

What kind of light do you have right now?

Java moss definitely loses some of its bright green color if it doesn't get enough light. It's a tough, tough plant (hardy I mean not hard to grow), so low light won't hurt it. But if you want to bring out that green color, you probably do need to give it more light. 

The absolute cheapest and easiest way to do so is to get a clip on shop light like this: http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-150-Watt-Incandescent-Clamp- ight Light-CE-300PDQ/100354511 
and get a 6500k CFL bulb like this: http://www.homedepot.com/p/EcoSmart...-Light-Bulb-2-Pack-ES5M8232TS65KCAN/205388173
http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-150-Watt-Incandescent-Clamp-Light-CE-300PDQ/100354511


----------



## rachelrose221 (Jun 10, 2013)

givemethatfish said:


> What kind of light do you have right now?
> 
> Java moss definitely loses some of its bright green color if it doesn't get enough light. It's a tough, tough plant (hardy I mean not hard to grow), so low light won't hurt it. But if you want to bring out that green color, you probably do need to give it more light.
> 
> ...





I am currently using a 7.5 watt incandescent bulb. It's orange since it was the only color I had available at the time and I keep on for 11 hours each day.
So do incandescent lights work for plants?


----------



## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Do you know what type of moss is it? what is your temp temp? Some mosses do not tolerate the warmer waters bettas like and will slow, brown, and some species even die in 80F+ water.
Moss and marimo are low light plants. All plants grow well with daylight spectrum bubls-6500kelvi or "k" but 6200-6700k also works. For that size tank I's try to get a very low wattage bulb (this is assume you have a standard lamp fixture to put it in? if not get one with an adjustable goose neck-always helpful for adjusting lighting) I use cfls and get 9-14 watt bulbs usually, you can get them cheaper at a grocery or home improvement store than at a pet/plant store where they are labeled as "grow bulbs".
How long do you keep the light on for? most common lighting range for planted tanks is 6-10 hours, where most stick around 8 range, many use a simple light timer so they don't have to remember to turn it on and off. 
DO you get any ambient or indirect sunlight on the tank from a window in the room? 
DO not get too high wattage of a bulb or leave lights on too long, you will be asking for hair algae which is a pain to get rid of (especially if you have marimo as its a specialized for of very slow growing hair algae (and no, having marimo will not make you get the fast growing annoying kind of hair algae) and cannot be treated with any algae killing products as the marimo will die from it to, marimo can only have manual algae remove done to it, no chemicals.)


----------



## rachelrose221 (Jun 10, 2013)

Aqua Aurora said:


> Do you know what type of moss is it? what is your temp temp? Some mosses do not tolerate the warmer waters bettas like and will slow, brown, and some species even die in 80F+ water.
> Moss and marimo are low light plants. All plants grow well with daylight spectrum bubls-6500kelvi or "k" but 6200-6700k also works. For that size tank I's try to get a very low wattage bulb (this is assume you have a standard lamp fixture to put it in? if not get one with an adjustable goose neck-always helpful for adjusting lighting) I use cfls and get 9-14 watt bulbs usually, you can get them cheaper at a grocery or home improvement store than at a pet/plant store where they are labeled as "grow bulbs".
> How long do you keep the light on for? most common lighting range for planted tanks is 6-10 hours, where most stick around 8 range, many use a simple light timer so they don't have to remember to turn it on and off.
> DO you get any ambient or indirect sunlight on the tank from a window in the room?
> DO not get too high wattage of a bulb or leave lights on too long, you will be asking for hair algae which is a pain to get rid of (especially if you have marimo as its a specialized for of very slow growing hair algae (and no, having marimo will not make you get the fast growing annoying kind of hair algae) and cannot be treated with any algae killing products as the marimo will die from it to, marimo can only have manual algae remove done to it, no chemicals.)




The two kinds of moss I have is the Java Moss and the marimo ball. For the past few months my temp has been steady at 75F but has increased gradually to 80 in the past two weeks. (I do have a small heater in the tank)
I have been using a 7.5 watt incandescent bulb. I had to change it to an orange bulb just recently because I did not have a clear one.
The light is kept on 10-11 hours each day, it is on a timer.
Currently I do not have a place with sunlight for my tank as I live in a dorm room, but when I go home the tank sits on a shelf to the right of an East facing window. I have had my marimo ball for almost a year now and it has been faring well. I obtained the java moss roughly two months ago and recently does not seem to be faring well.
The incandescent bulb is in one of those tanks light you get with that .5g tank you can find in any pet store. I also have one of those goose neck desk lamps that I use for doing homework but it has a florescent bulb and takes no more than 40 watts.
My tank also sits on my desk, and therefore under an large incandescent light that is built into my desk. That usually stays on in the evening. If I feel like I am bothering my fish with that light (sometimes I stay up way past midnight) I'll cover his tank with a towel so it's dark.


----------



## givemethatfish (Feb 10, 2014)

You should be able to replace the bulb in your goose neck lamp with a 6500k spiral fluorescent and be good to go. The wattage doesn't matter.


----------

