Tank Lighting Upgrade

[The Taffy Apple]

Good day to you all, for those not regular on any other topic board i shall give you a quick insight..

Recently (April) completed a fishless cycle of my 120L tank, donated mature media helped the cycle along it's way and it has now been sitting pretty in the living for a couple of months (see my signature for stocking below).

Now, the issue..it came with a very basic, cheap and small light...i have no idea on what it is, but the curved 'horseshoe' bulb is approx 8 inches long and 11W. As my tank only has a little Java moss in there, it really isn't an issue..but i'm going for more light and(hopefully) at some time in the near future i shall be dragged kicking and screaming into the world of real plants !!!

So today,i bought this ---> http/www.seapets.co.uk/products/aquarium-supplies/fish-tank-equipment/aquarium-lighting/fluorescent-tube-control-units/interpet-light-starter-unit-18-20-watt-t8-linear-1in-end-caps.html

I also bought a 24 inch long, 1 inch wide 20W fluorescent light bulb...both will be with me sometime this week in the post.

The hood on my tank once had the previous owners electrics in it, but i have safely unscrewed it all and , theoretically, will start all over again.

Can anyone see any problems i may come across in fitting and/or setting my light up?

Any suggestions highly appreciated.
Terry.

 

[KittyKat]

The ballast you linked to is T8, which takes 8/16 of an inch diameter bulb (not 1"). At any rare, 20 W for 120 litre tank gives you about 0.65 WPG, which is what I currently use in my display tank. I prefer to use colour 865 bulbs (by Philips or Osram, for example).

Ideally, I would have recommended that you get a more efficient T5 electronic ballast with a T5 bulb, but what you got will do.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

As usual, KittyKat, thank you very much for your reply...

Strange though, the product i bought clearly stated that it took '1 inch end caps' for the bulb i choose to use... the starter unit in my link also states it takes 1 inch bulbs... am i missing something here?

Terry.

 

[KittyKat]

Someone is missing something, but it's probably not you or I because 1" tubes are T12, but the product name states that it's a T8 ballast, and T8s are smaller.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Someone is missing something, but it's probably not you or I because 1" tubes are T12, but the product name states that it's a T8 ballast, and T8s are smaller.

Hot darn..!

Spent AGES making sure i had the right starter unit and bulb... oh well, guess i'll have to wait till they arrive this week...fingers crossed!

 

[bae1994]

I thought t8 s were one inch also weird

 

[KittyKat]

Gah, sorry guys! My mistake! T8s are 1 inch!

T12 are 12/8 of an inch, so they are bigger >.< Explanation on Wikipedia: http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp_formats#Tube_designations

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Gah, sorry guys! My mistake! T8s are 1 inch!

T12 are 12/8 of an inch, so they are bigger >.< Explanation on Wikipedia: http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp_formats#Tube_designations

Phew...<wipes brow>

..And there's me already making up an excuse to Mrs.Apple, explaining how i'd 'wasted' 25 sheets on a 'bloody light bulb'?

 

[tenshots1]

Just thought i would share what i did for my 20 gallon to get a little more light in there for plants. I had an extra 18" flourescent laying around so i made this:

Now i get 1.5wpg. A little better and cost be nothing

 

[SchottayB]

Good job .

Get a picture up of what it looks like when it's on the tank