40g Breeder Lighting/stem plants

[trv00]

Hey guys! So I'm going through a complete upgrade of my 40g tank and going high light/high tech. When I originally started this tank two years ago it was meant to be high tech, but school/money got in the way before I could get pressurized CO2 and better lighting.

Since then things changed. Anway, I had/have a current nova 2 bulb 36in t5HO on it's legs about 4inches above the aquarium. When I first started the tank, any stem plants I had in the tank would all lose their lower leaves. I'm guessing because the light was having trouble reaching the bottom leaves/poor distribution of light throughout the tank. My question now would be what does everyone think would be the best way to fix this problem, because I want to plant heavily (I can't hang anything from my ceilings sadly).

The options I was thinking are either going with a catalina 36in 2 t5ho (which would be better reflectors and increased distance between the two bulbs), or getting another nova extreme and having four bulbs. Thanks for the input!

[jeffvmd]

A 4 bulb set up will help cover more area and address your current problem of light reaching the lower portion of the plants in your tank.