# have i too much lighting??



## toadass (27 Aug 2010)

Hi all, im very new too this. I recently purchased a fluval roma 200 which has x2 t8 30w tubes as standard. I have decided to add an additional ballast which is a hagen glo with x2 t5 39w. The t8 tubes are aqua glo and a power glo. Can anyone advise me on what t5 tubes i should add and should i use them together with the t8's or use the t5's on there own (also should i use reflectors? which i already have on the t8's). What kind of wpg will this be? im guessing around 2.5 - 3. I am attempting a planted tank which i hope to have a carpet, it will be in use with aqua basis+ substrate, and i have purchased a co2 nano prssurised kit for my use of co2, and a external filter (which is yet to be purchased). Any info back will be very much appreciated, thanks for your time guys.


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## ceg4048 (28 Aug 2010)

Hi,
    Welcome to the forum!   
I've got a great idea; Why not learn to grow plants with the lighting that came with the tank? After you've figured things out you can then upgrade the lighting. I would advise to forget about wpg. The only thing worth remembering about wpg is that more wpg means more algae and problems. You don't really need massive wpg to grow plants, what you do need is good flow, good CO2, good nutrients and good maintenance. These are much more important than how many wpg you have.

I have no idea what CO2 kit you purchased, but anything with the word "nano" in it sounds too small for a 50 gallon tank. If the tank were 50 Liters then that might be more appropriate. When you do buy your filter you would do well to ensure that it is rated at least 500 gallons per hour. That will help to make up for some of the shortcomings of nano technology.

Basically, you have mis-prioritized the elements on your list for aquatic gardening. More light should be at the bottom of the list for any beginner. Here is a thread with a very similar question: Aquarium fish tank marine metal halide lighting 400w

Click or navigate to the Tutorial section of the forum and read the following articles. A great place to start:

Setting up a 'higher' tech planted tank 

CO2 MEASUREMENT USING A DROP CHECKER 

Fire extinguisher CO2 

Riccia and Java moss carpets. Step-by-Step guide 

Cheers,


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## toadass (28 Aug 2010)

Cheers mate, very much appreciated. I have a generous friend who has said that i can have his fluval 405 filter with a spray bar for next to nothing, and was planning on purchasing that along with a circulation pump. Do you think this would be adequate? (you'l have to excuse my stupidity of silly questions, lol) The co2 i mentioned that i have bought is a colombo floragrow.    http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/colombo ... -3882.html   .Thanks again for the links, i'm going to get reading.


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## ceg4048 (28 Aug 2010)

toadass said:
			
		

> ...I have a generous friend who has said that i can have his fluval 405 filter with a spray bar for next to nothing, and was planning on purchasing that along with a circulation pump. Do you think this would be adequate?


Well, if you lived in my perfect world you'd have a second generous friend who'd be offering a second 405 for a song. I always prefer to accomplish my flow with extra filtration, but the pumps such as Koralias seem to be popular and are the next best thing. Of course the pump will need to have a 225GPH rating to get you to 500GPH total. Before you do that though, check your little black book to see if you have any other generous friends that you haven't spoken to in a while. He/she may have that other 405 with your name written on it. Miracles do happen....  



			
				toadass said:
			
		

> ...The co2 i mentioned that i have bought is a colombo floragrow.    http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/colombo ... -3882.html   .Thanks again for the links, i'm going to get reading.


Hmm, it's as I suspected. That unit would be OK for a rinky dinky little nano, but your tank, being a behemoth by comparison, will simply swallow that whole and then ask for dessert. At Â£14 plus shipping for a measly 100 grams of gas you'll need a second job mate. And that was actually the good news....

I was going to suggest that you simply go the fire extinguisher route by ditching the proprietary Clodumbo disposable bottle, but I think the regulator is also configured with proprietary fittings, so they cannot be used on industrial standard cylinders such as fire extinguishers.  I might be wrong about the regulator but I do think you got gipped mate. If the package is unopened you might be able to do a return/exchange?

Oh well, if you don't want to invest in a standard regulator in order to use the extinguishers then you'll just have to buy a few more of the bottles.

Cheers,


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## toadass (1 Sep 2010)

cheers dude, ye the regulator is only able to fit the tiny bottle, no chance with sticking it onto the fe... The fe co2 looks the way to go. As for the 405,.... he's just sold it, ha, ha.. (good mate). Is there anything filter wise you'd reccomend to get the rate of flow that i am after??. Thanks again for your time.


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## ceg4048 (1 Sep 2010)

Too bad mate. Definitely he should be removed from the Christmas present list. Get any filter or combination of filters that will get you in the vicinity of the 10X rule. A 50 gallon tank ideally needs 500 GPH right?  An FX5 will do the trick. Any of the largest Renas, like the XP3/XP4, Tetratech2400, any of these popular brands will do the trick. Get the biggest, and most muscular filter you can afford or fit. Get it used. No need to pay full price. If you can get it with filter media then even better.

Cheers,


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## GreenNeedle (2 Sep 2010)

lol @ Ceg.  Nothing for me to add here as Ceg has already taken the words I would've used   Good advice as always from the professor 

AC


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## Bobtastic (13 Sep 2010)

Ceg, would you recommend one big filter over two smaller ones?

Eg one FX5 over two 405's?


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## ceg4048 (13 Sep 2010)

Hi Bob,
           It doesn't really matter. Flow is flow and total filtration capacity is total filtration capacity.

Cheers,


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## toadass (15 Sep 2010)

Cool, ye' im still searching and researching at the mo... I'm gonna go for two filters over the pure fact of fitting it into the cabinet. Ive got my eye on at the moment .... http://www.fishkeeper.co.uk/Prodshowroo ... aspx?id=26    They do a Efx 400 which is 1400 lph max flow for Â£15 more. I have heard a couple of good reviews on them. Do any of you guys have any or know of any reviews on these? I have heard it running as they have a display tank at my store and it is impressively silent, and looks like it does a good job on filtering too. Ceg thanks for the info (or the warning,ha) on the wpg, after doing more research on here, i see for me the two t8's is the way to go for me,.... just revising about ferts and water chemistry at the mo...

slowly but surely


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## lugefish (23 Sep 2010)

Hi Toad, 

Strangely enough I have a Fluval Roma 200 and actually fitted 2 39s to my hood (although I must stress this was after having the tank for one year, and keeping fish for 3 years) I basically used a centre punch on the two flaps, and fitted the clips with cable ties. I found the tubes made the flaps very hot (as no doubt you would expect). I quickly decided I couldn't do it this way, and made a custom "lid" from cut-to-length drain pipe. I now run 2 39s and 2 TMC Grobeams and they look great.

I thought as I have done exactly what you were planning to do initially, I would at least answer your question (God how I wish someone could have told me when I was considering doing the same thing!)

For now I would do as ceg says and get settled in, take it one step at a time. Many people have great success with regular lighting, and ramping up the lighting will only mean you have to change other things to compensate. 

As someone who has the same tank and has made nearly every mistake you can make along the way, feel free to pm me if you have any questions. Other than that the pros on here will be able to give you the best advice!


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## toadass (27 Oct 2010)

Hi lugefish, Ye cheers for that. I'm going to take the advice of ceg and yourself. Seems a bit of hassle with the addition of more lighting, i shall see what i can do wrong with the regular lighting before making it harder for myself. Thanks


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