# lighting for roma 125



## plantnoob (8 Feb 2013)

what would be the best lighting to use for a fluval roma 125 running pressurised co2 ? im reasonably easy as far as plant choice gos , nut the 1 plant im adamant i want is a nice carpet of Hemianthus callitrichoides.


----------



## Alastair (9 Feb 2013)

I'd have thought 2 x 39 watts would be fine over that tank. you can purchase the Acadia twin starter units or if your going open top have a look at the all pond solutions light units or iquatics ones


----------



## ceg4048 (9 Feb 2013)

Maybe a better idea is to forget about buying new lights and instead, learn to grow plants with the lights that came with your tank. If anything, if you will inject CO2, then you should replace the lame filter that comes with the Fluval Roma 125 with a stronger external cannister filter. Hemianthus callitrichoides cares more about good flow and distribution of CO2 than it does about lights.

There is a lot more to growing plants than what kind of light unit  you have. You shouldn't even be thinking about lights right now if you truly are a plant noob.

Cheers,


----------



## plantnoob (9 Feb 2013)

i have perhaps been getting too hung up on lighting lately . i understand that i need good flow and distribution of co2 . i was just concerned that injecting co2 , ferts etc increased the need for light .  there seems to be so much conflicting info about , that is hard to know which articles to read and trust and which to ignore .


----------



## Ady34 (9 Feb 2013)

plantnoob said:


> i have perhaps been getting too hung up on lighting lately . i understand that i need good flow and distribution of co2 . i was just concerned that injecting co2 , ferts etc increased the need for light .  there seems to be so much conflicting info about , that is hard to know which articles to read and trust and which to ignore .


It's an easy thing to do, getting hung up on lighting, there is a lot of bad advice out there!
As ceg4048 says, Co2 is the most difficult aspect of growing plants to get right, both in the required levels and in the distribution of it around the aquarium. A healthy planted tank has the correct levels of co2 for the lighing intensity used. Lighting is much easier to apply and adjust. Light drives the plants hunger for co2, the higher the lighting intensity the more co2 is required, which makes it more difficult to find a balance for plants and fish and get it to all the plants effectively. If you use lower levels of lighting then the plants need less co2, so its much easier to achieve the concentrations required safely within your aquarium.
This is why the general consensus is to start with a lower lighting intensity and try and achieve a 10x tank volume turnover per hour to help distribute the plant 'food' around the aquarium.
Hope this helps rationalise it.
Cheerio,
Ady.


----------



## plantnoob (9 Feb 2013)

thanks for the info . i did read more and more places about needing nothing more than 2 t5 tubes . which after looking for the length of my tank would come out around 1.6 wpg  ( another grey area  ) .  as for distributing/checking co2 , i am currently working on an idea of having an in-tank atomiser the same end as the powerhead so the bubbles go directly into the flow , with drop checker at the opposite end of the tank .  this way i figure on 2 things . 1 that the co2 stands the best chance of getting well distributed , and 2 that my readings on thelevels of co2 will be more accurate .  am i on the right track here ?


----------



## ceg4048 (9 Feb 2013)

Yes, you are on the right track because you are imagining, which makes a huge difference. Before you add anything else to the tank, test your theory, but also try different configurations to see which configuration works best or which is most practical.

When injecting, do frequent pH readings of the tank water and record the values to see how effective your distribution configuration works.

Cheers,


----------



## plantnoob (9 Feb 2013)

ive got plenty of time to research things , which is exactly what i plan on doing . i only picked up the tank yesterday and i need filter/heater to get it filled up and start cycling . probably going to be a good couple of months yet before anything is done in anger .


----------

