hey guys i have read about java ferns and they seem to be easy to grow and is very suitable to me i have a 30gallon with a 13w fluroscent light and wondering if the java fern can handle only that amout of light.. please reply
oh yea and if u can could u tell me if normal lamp light would help the plants grow? the yellowish coloured one. im on a real real thin budget and cannot afford another fish fluroscent light
I like java fern too because you can grow it on driftwood plus it dosn't demand as much light as other plants. The people at Drs. Foster and Smith say to supply at least 2 watts per gallon. Here's more information on the java fern from Foster and Smith.
I really don't think that 13 Watts for 30 gallons is not going strech it, but I just started my planted tank so I can't offer you much first hand knowledge. However I can tell you that the yellowish light has a low color temperature and won't really help you at all, but you certainly can use a lamp or spot light the aquarium. I use 30 watt flourescent daylight bulbs in lamps, in addition to my flourescent tubes. I forget the exact name of the blub, but they have them all walmart for sure: they are about $8, have a color temperature of 6500K, they screw into a regular lamp socket, and they are 30 watts! Also flourescent light is about 4 times more effiecint than incandescent which is probaly what that yellowish bulb is. So 30 watts in a flourescent bulb delivers the amout of light that a 120 watt incandescent bulb would.
So if you get two of those bulbs you'd have (30 + 30 + 13)watts/ 30 gallons = 2.4 watts per gallon...that should be sufficient for your java ferns. If you already have lamps that you can use, then for about $16-17 you can add some decent wattage of light of the correct color temperature for growing plants. So the light is white and not yellow looking -- the K value of lighting is usualy listed on the package somewhere
i have a 30gallon with a 13w fluroscent light and wondering if the java fern can handle only that amout of light.. please reply 
