Jaybird
Aquarium Advice FINatic
OK, so I came home today to find the house smelling of acrid smoke and one of my T5 bulbs hanging from the fixture and in the tank.
I had a previous problem with the Tek light fixture where the ballast failed and two of the inner four bulbs would not fire. The ballast was replaced with a Workhorse 7 ballast and all seemed good. At least until today.
Well, the endcap on one side was burnt and melted which caused enough heat to break the T5 bulb about 1.5 inches from the end. The broken end of the bulb, and some small pieces of glass, ended up on the bottom of the tank and the remainder of the T5 tube was hanging down from the fixture into the the tank water.
Anyone else have odd issues with their Tek light fixtures?
All the glass and the end of the bulb are out of the tank now. I've replaced the endcap and put in a new bulb and everything seems to be working. The bulbs don't seem as bright as they used to, so I'm not sure if the problem over-taxed the ballast for a while, or if it will ever come back properly.
Does anyone know if the broken bulb will cause any immediate harm in the tank? Right now I am running a new 30G batch of RO/DI water to do a 30% water change. It could take another day or so to finish the water, add salt and get the full 30G up to the proper temp.
I had a previous problem with the Tek light fixture where the ballast failed and two of the inner four bulbs would not fire. The ballast was replaced with a Workhorse 7 ballast and all seemed good. At least until today.
Well, the endcap on one side was burnt and melted which caused enough heat to break the T5 bulb about 1.5 inches from the end. The broken end of the bulb, and some small pieces of glass, ended up on the bottom of the tank and the remainder of the T5 tube was hanging down from the fixture into the the tank water.
Anyone else have odd issues with their Tek light fixtures?
All the glass and the end of the bulb are out of the tank now. I've replaced the endcap and put in a new bulb and everything seems to be working. The bulbs don't seem as bright as they used to, so I'm not sure if the problem over-taxed the ballast for a while, or if it will ever come back properly.
Does anyone know if the broken bulb will cause any immediate harm in the tank? Right now I am running a new 30G batch of RO/DI water to do a 30% water change. It could take another day or so to finish the water, add salt and get the full 30G up to the proper temp.
