Well, after a suggestion, I tried cutting the original light holder and ballast out with a stanley (et-al!) knife...loe and behold it worked fine! So, I now have a 36w light to replace my original 15w....talk about lighting up the whole tank, the difference is truely amazing! Most plants are pearling with the anubias giving off the most bubbles. The crypts are not doing much though they've only been planted about 2.5-3 weeks.
Only curious point is that the box for the ballast advises using a glass or plastic cover between the tube and the aquarium water. I didn't read this bit before so at the moment there is no such cover...not sure if I truely need one though?
The increased lighting really changes the tank, with some plants now looking out of place. I'll post some pictures ASAP but in short the cabomba now looks like a mass of green with no definition. The crypt wendtti in front of it is pretty much invisible too: I'm going to look at replacing the cabomba in a week or two, it just doesn't look right now. I really didn't expect the planting layout to look so much different, I guess I just though it would look the same but with more light. I'm also convinced the bacopa, cabomba and rotala macranda have all shot up at least an inch since the lights went in 6 hours ago....maybe that's just me though!?!
Only curious point is that the box for the ballast advises using a glass or plastic cover between the tube and the aquarium water. I didn't read this bit before so at the moment there is no such cover...not sure if I truely need one though?
The increased lighting really changes the tank, with some plants now looking out of place. I'll post some pictures ASAP but in short the cabomba now looks like a mass of green with no definition. The crypt wendtti in front of it is pretty much invisible too: I'm going to look at replacing the cabomba in a week or two, it just doesn't look right now. I really didn't expect the planting layout to look so much different, I guess I just though it would look the same but with more light. I'm also convinced the bacopa, cabomba and rotala macranda have all shot up at least an inch since the lights went in 6 hours ago....maybe that's just me though!?!
