Can I turn a 15 inch florescent lamp into a 18 inch ?

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candymancan

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Aug 6, 2013
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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 ?
 
as long as the wattage is the same I believe youre ok. whats the worst that could happen? simply unplug the fixture, make the necessary changes, insert bulb. flip light over so the bulb is facing the ground. plug in, turn on. if it pops youll know you cant do it.
 
It should say on your ballast your maximum wattage. It might be pretty strong. As long as your bulb doesn't suck more power your ballast will be ok
 
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