candymancan
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Hey guys.. Question. I have a bit of a lighting dilemma for my hexagon tank.. I made a 1/4 inch thick plexiglass top for my hex.. so I could get another light fixture for the tank.. The original one is a 15 inch lamp.. The problem im having is... NO ONE makes 15 inch florescent bulbs anymore.. Home depot, lowes, speciality places.. Fish stores... online no one sells them... Aqueon has only 1 15 inch but its full spectrum... and its color spectrum has only high blues, but absolutetly zero red... Plants need red and blue spectrums..
So my second lamp is a 20 inch fixture that uses 18 inch bulbs...(Im using both the 18 and 15 on my top I made) It hangs off the side by 2 inchs but I don't care... I want to convert my 15 inch lamp to use 18 inch bulbs.. that way I can get a second pink light which are high in red/blue spectrums to help my plants grow better.. The 15 inch lamp uses 15 watt bulbs.. the 18 inch bulb is 15 watts.. So I don't see a problem.. Can I just take the lamp apart and extend the little ballast clip which the light twists into so itll take 18 inch bulbs ? Or would this cause the bulb to pop. Im thinking it will be fine as long as the bulbs are the same wattage. And my ballast isn't a cheapo one.. Ive had this lamp for 15 years now and the ballast has lasted all this time..
Am I making sense here ?
So my second lamp is a 20 inch fixture that uses 18 inch bulbs...(Im using both the 18 and 15 on my top I made) It hangs off the side by 2 inchs but I don't care... I want to convert my 15 inch lamp to use 18 inch bulbs.. that way I can get a second pink light which are high in red/blue spectrums to help my plants grow better.. The 15 inch lamp uses 15 watt bulbs.. the 18 inch bulb is 15 watts.. So I don't see a problem.. Can I just take the lamp apart and extend the little ballast clip which the light twists into so itll take 18 inch bulbs ? Or would this cause the bulb to pop. Im thinking it will be fine as long as the bulbs are the same wattage. And my ballast isn't a cheapo one.. Ive had this lamp for 15 years now and the ballast has lasted all this time..
Am I making sense here ?