ut oh - Dead light fixture

[joannde]

My double tube All Glass fixture died on me yesterday. I did a mad search to try and find a replacement ballast without any luck. Since I really hated that fixture I decided to replace it and ordered a double tube T-5 fixture. It may take up to a week to get the new fixture.

I'm back to using my old hood - a single 20W T-8 Tube. (gosh - it looks weird - it looks like the weather before a storm breaks out !)

Am I at an increased risk for developing algae during this week ? I'm sure the red rubin sword and L. repens will suffer a little also. Is there anything I can do to mitigate some of the damage from the reduced lighting ? Should I discontinue using Flourish Excel until the new lights come ??

 

[Purrbox]

I would cut back on your ferts, by about half, until your new lights arrive as your plants won't be able to make use of them as quickly.

 

[mr funktastic]

why do u have to wait a whole week? where did u order from? if u found it cheap somewhere online a good thing to do it call big als and get them to pricematch. i have never waited more than 2 days for delivery from them. i agree with purrbox about the dosing. i dont think the plants will suffer that much though. i have shipped lots of different types of plants and sometimes it has taken 8 days to get to someone and they arrive fine with no lighting or ferts to aid them. i hope it all looks good. u should post a pic of what the before light looked like then the light u are using now looks like then the new light. the difference may even suprise u.

 

[joannde]

I ordered the lights from Big Al's - usually it takes 3 - 4 days for deliveries from them but I was planning a "worst case scenerio"

Its funny in a way - when I first put the dim light back on I said "WHOA ! that's DARK !". But now I actually sort of like it - its subdued, it actually looks more tranquil. I have noticed that the fish are spending more time in and around the plants and aren't out in the open as much. I wonder if THEY think a storm is approaching ?

This current (original) light is a 20 Watt T-8
The one that broke was 2 x 25W T-8
The new one that's coming is 2 x 21W T-5

I've been trying to figure out WPG and THINK I have
(1 x 20 W T-8 x 1.58) / 29 = 1.1 WPG
(2 x 25 W T-8 x 1.58) / 29 = 2.7 WPG
(2 x 21 W T-5 x 1.75) / 29 = 2.5 WPG

....... I think LOL