# Side/Back Lighting, Stem Boost or bad idea?



## fish_4_all (Jun 3, 2006)

I love my plants, especially the multitude of colors that can be gotten from stem plants. Reds, green, blues, purples, oranges, yellows and almost any other color you want to put in your tank.

The problem is, once the tops get going well, the bottom rooted stems are rotting and falling apart. I think this could be the cure for it.

I am going to try a simple setup. Take either a 15watt fluorescent fixture on top and another 15 watt lighting the back or 2 15 watt CF screw in bulbs in the top and one on each end pointing directly at each other. 

I think this will do 2 things. One is it will cut the amount of heat that is only one the surface. Second, it should help those stem plants that have such a hard time getting light to the bottom to stay healthy and not need to be transplanted so often if ever. 

This should then have the effect of lusher and thicker stem plants where you can trim the top and leave the bottom and maintain the look you want. It should also help low growing plants that would suffer from stem plants blocking the light and allow them to grow much more lush and make the true carpet we all want in our ultimate planted tank.

The questions are:
Has anyone tried this?
How many of you think it will work?
How would you do it, how many watts in what places and what type of lighting do you think would work the best?


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## slickwillislim (Oct 11, 2005)

I think this really depends on what size tank you have. 15w 6500k cf bulbs arent that much light but it depends on your tank. It might work. How much light do you have now.

What stem plants are you talking about. Some stems obviously need more light than others.


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## Faruk Gençöz (Nov 4, 2005)

When there is strong enough light coming from the back or the sides the leaves will turn to these sides so that the viewers from the front may not like the appearance of the plants. The lights directly reaching the eyes would also disturb the viewer. Also the fish may begin to swim at an unusual angle. 

If the main problem is too much loss of the leaves, then the cure may be appropriate scaping, pruning and fertilization.


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## fish_4_all (Jun 3, 2006)

I have 80 watts evenly over 2 10 gallon tanks. A double 48 inch NO fixture with 2 different bulbs, I think a daylight and plant&aquarium bulb. My plants grow fine in thise tanks but I am looking for a way to keep the stems healthy. More light on top than the sides should still encourage vertical growth but the side lighting should keep the stems healthy. That is unless there is another reason why the stems die off then I am all ears.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Sounds interesting, i have wondered if this sort of thing would be beneficial myself. I bet you would get really good bushy stems from a setup like that. It might not be so great for the viewer's pleasure, but it would definitely help grow healthier/better plants. It might be a good idea if you want to sell bushy plants online 

Good luck with the experiment, and do post your results.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

fish_4_all said:


> I have 80 watts evenly over 2 10 gallon tanks. A double 48 inch NO fixture with 2 different bulbs, I think a daylight and plant&aquarium bulb. My plants grow fine in thise tanks but I am looking for a way to keep the stems healthy. More light on top than the sides should still encourage vertical growth but the side lighting should keep the stems healthy. That is unless there is another reason why the stems die off then I am all ears.


Proper pruning is key. When the plants get too tall and bushy the bottoms get ratty. This is one of the reasons stem plants go in the back.  The bottoms get hidden by rocks, driftwood and midground plants.

Are you dosing any nitrogen or phosphorus? If so, you may need to add more.


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