Ack! My lights just failed.

[norcalg]

Hello,
I have a 55 planted that's been planted for a couple weeks. No CO2, some Excel, no ferts (yet). Lighting is/was 2x54w T5HO. My lights started flickering and going out so I contacted the retailer, they told me they'd send a ballast via the manufacturer and it should be here in 7-10 days. My lights worked yesterday and today, nothing. I flip the switch, they flicker, never lighting all the way and then black.

How much of a big deal is it to leave the tank dark until the new ballast comes? Will the ballast fix the problem? Both lights flicker and light so I don't think they're burned out. Will the failing ballast shorten the life of my bulbs? Will the fish mind? What do I need to be aware of/watching for? I know that black-out is a common algae treatment but I wasn't planning on blacking out the tank completely. Is ambient light going to be a problem?

Thanks so much!
~g

[Purrbox]

As long as the tank is getting some ambient light for the day/night cycle there's no worries with your fish. With the plants 7-10 days is a rather long time to go with out light. The more hardy low light species should be fine, but anything that is more light demanding may suffer.

[norcalg]

Originally Posted by Purrbox

As long as the tank is getting some ambient light for the day/night cycle there's no worries with your fish. With the plants 7-10 days is a rather long time to go with out light. The more hardy low light species should be fine, but anything that is more light demanding may suffer.

I'll keep my fingers crossed then. Most of what I planted was low-mid light as I'm under 2w/gallon but still, that's a long time to go without light. Fingers crossed they overestimated the shipping time.

Thanks,
~g

Edit:
Came home to a dead rainbow. It may be a coincidence but I realized that I didn't have the airstones on and I usually run them at night after seeing the fish congregating at the top of the tank. Hadn't noticed anyone acting ill or odd. Water parameters are: ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5-10, pH 7.4. I'll be repeating the pH test in an hour to see if it's the same as my pH is usually higher than that (7.8-8.0).