# E.Stelleta



## paul236313 (Jul 23, 2004)

I'm trying to get the stelleta to get that purple color under the leaves and having problems getting there.
N 10
P 1.0-1.5
FE kept at .5 and higher
kh 3
gh not sure but very soft
P doing equilibrium and a little seachem potassium
Can this be a light issue i have a little over 3wpg


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

what is the kelvin rating on your bulbs? Are they flourescent or power compact? The stellata needs a higher kelvin bulb like 8800k or better.


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## gnatster (Mar 6, 2004)

chiahead said:


> what is the kelvin rating on your bulbs? Are they flourescent or power compact? The stellata needs a higher kelvin bulb like 8800k or better.


It does?

Lets kill that myth right now.

The photo below shows some nice purples and the bulbs are 5500K, no tricks in Photoshop, not even cropped, just resized. Camera is Nikon Coolpix 3200 set to Auto.


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## paul236313 (Jul 23, 2004)

Power compacts 2 65w 6700 2 65w 10,000
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/gallery/files/8/4/2/222_3927.JPG


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

nice looking gnaster are those broad leaf or the reg stellata? Whats ur wattage over thos bad boys? Limited No3 and keeping Po4 up also helps get them to color nicely. Gnaster do yours color purple even when low or just when the hit close to the surface?


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## gnatster (Mar 6, 2004)

chiahead said:


> nice looking gnaster are those broad leaf or the reg stellata? Whats ur wattage over thos bad boys? Limited No3 and keeping Po4 up also helps get them to color nicely. Gnaster do yours color purple even when low or just when the hit close to the surface?


When that was taken both narrow and broad leaf varieties were in the tank. Lighting over the tank (120gal) is by 2 250W DE MH. NO3 is not limited at ~ 10ppm and ~1.5ppm PO4 via PPS. They are that color all the way to the base.

What I found is the trace elements matter a good bit, they were much more washed out when TE was low but regular additions of large amounts of traces colored them up quite nicely.


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## chiahead (Dec 18, 2004)

Thx for the reputation comment- When I was growing my stellata under 6700k lights there were bright green. I recently switched to the 9325k which is a pinkish light heavy in the red spectrum they are coloring up more even at the bottom of the tank. I was only posting my experience with this issue. There is no hard set rules as to what colors better with what as all tank setups differ. In my prev lighting setup(6700k) I tried dosing heavy TE and iron with no success. I also tried limiting the No3 while keeping Po4 at 2ppm or above. Very little coloring there. After I switched to the 9325k bulbs I am seeing more color than ever and thats without altering ferts or overdosing TE. Gnaster you also have MH which make a huge difference and prob have a much different color scale than a similar 5500k power compact. Meaning your MH can be much higher in the red spectrum and still fall under the 5500k rating. Plus the MH penetrate much deeper than a PC. I am beginning to realise its not really the wattage but the output of the bulbs and the usable color range that they need. Example is when I switched to my 9325k I lost 40w of lighting but my plants have responded 20 fold as far as pearling and growth/health. I was just trying to offer my help.


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## shalu (Oct 1, 2004)

chiahead, you should have been more specific in the first post about GE9325K, instead of the general comment about higher color temp. That could have avoided the confusion. The 9323K is an oddball in that it does not resemble most other high temp bulbs at all.


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## paul236313 (Jul 23, 2004)

You think i should change over to ge 9325 will that help


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## shalu (Oct 1, 2004)

Personally I tried GE9325k for a few months, and don't like it, while most other people rave about it. Sure it makes red plants redder, but it also makes my SnowFlake discus look pink and the glosso lawn yellow.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

shalu said:


> Personally I tried GE9325k for a few months, and don't like it, while most other people rave about it. Sure it makes red plants redder, but it also makes my SnowFlake discus look pink and the glosso lawn yellow.


Agreed on that one. Mix it with a daylight bulb if you use it or you tank will emit a pink glow that is none to attractive.


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## gpodio (Feb 4, 2004)

Here's mine under the GE 9325K: http://www.gpodio.com/gallery/close1.jpg

For some time I changed to 10000K bulbs and they did get a lot greener. I have recently changed to the new All-Glass bulbs that I believe have replaced the GE9325 as replacement bulbs, they are 8000K and still have some pink cast to them however not as strong as the GE9325 bulbs. The color is coming back nicely and I still have the 10000K bulbs mixed in to balance out the color of the 8000K. I also grew them under 5400K in the past and color was far better than with the 10000K bulbs.

Giancarlo Podio


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## paul236313 (Jul 23, 2004)

I was dosing 10-15ml of TMG twice a week upped it too 15ml 3x a week

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/gallery/files/8/4/2/e.stelleta.JPG


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## plantbrain (Jan 23, 2004)

You can induce red color using low NO3, this often stunts the tips though.
It can be done if you use less light, good fish loads and careful dosing.
Most folks(everyone pretty much) louse this up at some point and stunt the plant but you can get very red color.

The jpeg of Paul's looks like healthy plants. 
We found stunting occurred at lower NO3 levels, typically at 2-5ppm ranges we attempted to maintain.

You need to keep the macro nutrients up and then keep the traces going good, it takes some time for the plant's momentum to get going good and utilize the traces under higher light, but once it does, the plant is a weed.

Nice plant(both varieties). 
Lighting has been what most here have stated, seems to like warmer colors and a mix of 8800K and 5000K have done the best over all for me for most all plant species. 6700/5000K also does well and 2w/gal to 6w/gal has done well. The plant is weedy at higher lighting and needs more frequent attention.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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