Bulb Wattage

[bluesfan]

i have a glo 56w ballast would it be ok to change bulbs to 39w and still keep original ballast as i prefer tank with lower power bulbs cheers

 

[Deleted member 107737]

I tried the same thing and my tubes were going very black near the ends. A guy on here told me that I was actually burning the tube out quickly because it was still pumping 56w through.
 
What I did was actually replace my ballast. Easy to do, many available on the net and in the long run savings will outweigh the cost of the ballast.
 
I didnt have a choice as my ballast actually died on me. I originally had 2 x 24w and new ballast ran 2 x 14w. Then I decided to have a planted tank and ended up buying a double arcadia starter tube kit to increase my lighting....

 
Money money money....

 

[bluesfan]

Thanks for info checked on net  39w ballast around £33 think its worth it that way many thanks.

 

[Deleted member 107737]

yeah i think my ballast was about £25 for the 2x 14w.
 
I know ebay has a few listed. Just one thing I didnt know too much about before which i think is worth mentioning.(standard and HO ballasts). Anyone correct me if im wrong please but i bought HO ( high Output) tubes for my standard ballast and the lights would not come on. So please just make sure you have the right tubes when purchasing and dont find out the hard way like me.
 
Cheers and good luck.
HO tubes  (4) HO ballast
 
Standard tubes  (4)  Standard ballast

 

[bluesfan]

my tubes are h/o i will remember that when ordering thanks.