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Did I get lucky or trash?

On the lighter side, I have a ballast and lamp question.  Sorry for the 
pun, but all this cops and government stuff was a bit too heavy for me.  I 
was unable to get away from it as you'll see.

Shoestring budget tank cont......

The LFS store owner is going to give me this old tanning bed fixture.  He 
doesn't have the time or need for it so he's willing to give to anybody 
who's willing to take it.  He received the bed because the donator was 
hoping it could be converted for saltwater use.  It is extremely heavy 
which leads us to believe that it has tar ballasts in it.  When I looked at 
the bulbs, they were Wolff Systems Sunshine D Lamps 72" RDCT12-100W.  I 
went looking for all the pertinent information about these lamps.  I talked 
to ETS, the main supplier, and learned all about UVA/UVB percentages.  No 
joy. :(  So I dug deeper and found Wolff Systems.  They told me about the 
history of the lamps and the amount of hours I could get and the darkness 
of my skin.  No joy.  :(  I was referred to Rick at URI.  He was a nice guy 
who took the time to explain his lamps and what happens.  Apparently, for 
the sake of marketing, there is no reason to find any real info 
(read-important to us) about these lamps because what tanning bed user 
cares about the CRI or color temp.  Closure, but still no joy.  :(  URI 
offers 50/50, pure actinic, and other assorted aquarium lamps @72W and over 
100W lamps which won't work in the 100W ballasts.

Being ignorant of 100W tanning bulbs and ballasts, I looked through the 
digest.  2 people posted regarding tanning bed lamps, 1 that went 
unanswered and another that referred to the frequency of UVA/UVB.

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions/cautions regarding tar ballasts?

I was wondering if anyone has ever converted a tanning bed to an aquarium 
fixture?

I was wondering if anyone had any lamp suggestions and/or will these 
Sunshine D lamps just give my plants a sunburn?


As for cops and government, it may not be their fault.  Every person I 
talked to asked what I wanted the info for.  I responded with "I want to 
grow aquatic plants."  Somehow that word "aquatic" was mysteriously dropped 
from their selective hearing, and EVERY person responded with "so you want 
to grow pot?".  Sie La Vie.

Darin Simmons