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Old 04-09-2008, 02:57 PM   #2
JustOneMore20
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You are right, actinic does nothing for plants. The 10000K part would be fine, so its like having half the wattage (or about 32w instead of 65w). You can keep that and have low light instead of medium light, especiall with the plants you are looking at. You won't need co2 with that light.

Swords would benefit from more light than that (more than 32w), but they might grow ok if you don't shade them with something else. Java ferns would be fine. Anubias are another tough low light plant. The last 2 need to be tied to wood or rocks.

I don't know of any other tough plants. I've never kept Convicts so I don't know just how harsh they are on plants. You could try stems and maybe put some rocks around them, so they don't dig (if they dig....). Anacharis and Wisteria are 2 lower light plants that would work.

I would be hesitant to put a daylight bulb in and have the full 65w without stem plants. You would probably run into algae issues by having slow growing plants and that much light, so I would suggest you leave the 50/50 bulb in. Later, if you change fish choices, or if the Convicts aren't harsh on stems you try, then you could put in a daylight bulb and try more stem plants. With a good amount of stem plants (fast growers) under 65w, you wouldn't need co2 IMO.
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5 Planted tanks:
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10g N. multifasciatus tank, 5.5g Platy fry


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