# growing java moss with sunlight?



## FishHulk (Dec 8, 2006)

my tank doesn't have it's own light but during the day it get's alot of sunlight from outside coming thru my glass door. could i grow java moss without a light? or use the sunlight?


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

yes def possible. But imo sunlight tanks are volitile. because you cannot regulate the amount of light the tank gets on any given day. most likley the tank will be algae ridden.


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## therizman1 (Jan 6, 2006)

BlackSunshine said:


> yes def possible. But imo sunlight tanks are volitile. because you cannot regulate the amount of light the tank gets on any given day. most likley the tank will be algae ridden.










From my experience... sunlight=algae

As BS said, you cant control the amount of light which is the worst part... what happens when we have a week of cloudy days and there is no light getting to the tank?


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## FishHulk (Dec 8, 2006)

if no sunlight hits then the java moss won't grow? i have a pleco in the tank and it's been doing a really good job eating the algae.


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## therizman1 (Jan 6, 2006)

Loco63 said:


> if no sunlight hits then the java moss won't grow? i have a pleco in the tank and it's been doing a really good job eating the algae.


If no light reaches the plant, no it will not grow... plants cannot grow without light.


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## platinum1683 (Nov 17, 2006)

yeah i would be careful with sunlight. I keep all my blinds near my tanks closed during the day and just simulate sunlight for them with my tank light and turn it off when I go to bed. If I was you I would think about getting a light for the tank if you can afford to do it right now, I think the guys on here recommend 1 WPG (Watt Per Gallon) But I could be wrong, Dippy is the man you need to talk to. Good luck man.


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## therizman1 (Jan 6, 2006)

platinum1683 said:


> yeah i would be careful with sunlight. I keep all my blinds near my tanks closed during the day and just simulate sunlight for them with my tank light and turn it off when I go to bed. If I was you I would think about getting a light for the tank if you can afford to do it right now, I think the guys on here recommend 1 WPG (Watt Per Gallon) But I could be wrong, Dippy is the man you need to talk to. Good luck man.


1wpg is about the lowest you want to go and still be keeping your plants alive.. 1.5wpg is about ideal for a low light tank... high light is anywhere from 2wpg all the way up to 4-5wpg, though IMO anything over 3wpg is overkill and you are just asking for trouble with algae.

Remember, to figure out wpg (watts per gallon) look on your bulb to see how many watts it is, all bulbs say this somewhere on them and then divide it by how many gallons your tanks is... ie if you had 35watts over a 75g tank you would have about .47wpg which is really not enough to keep plants alive.


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