What lights to buy?

To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
Subject: What lights to buy?
From: eis at alto1_altonet.com (Paul Nicholson)
Date: Wed, 5 Jun 1996 09:48:35 -0700

Christine Martens wrote:

<<The tank size means I'm stuck with 24" bulbs, which limits choices
somewhat. I
have found Phillips F20 T12 bulbs with a 5000K rating for $5.50, which sounds
good after the $19 - 25 prices of "aquarium" bulbs.>>

I used four 24 inch T12's on my 29, two agra bulbs and two cool whites from
Home Depot. The 1 inch diameter T8's are more efficeint and if I had it to
do over, I'd use them instead.

<<Now for the ballast. I've found an electronic ballast which will run 2 40w
tubes. The guy said I could put the shorter, 20w tubes on it with no problem.
Is he right? (You notice I trust the APD posters more than the salesman!) Is
it likely to work to run two tubes? or do I need to find one specifically for
my bulbs? What other questions should I ask? This ballast is $28.>>

Yes, electronic ballasts are constant curent and can deliver the lower
voltage for shorter bulbs with no problem. I'd still reccomend four T8
bulbs, and if you do use T8's be sure and get a T8 ballast (they use lower
currrent). The $28.00 price is reasonable. Check out Grainger at
<http://www.grainger.com/>

<<I also need endcaps and starters but I'm less worried about them as they seem
to be easier to match up once I have the tubes and ballast. Or are there
components I've forgotten?>>

You don't need starters with an electronic ballast.

Paul

In not too hot, not too cool Southern California where the bulldozer was
clearing the firebreak behind the house in our annual rite of summer.