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Re: 20 gal/15 watts-solution
>Anton wrote:
> I have fallen heir to the typical flourescent light that comes with a 20
> gallon tank...the bulb is a whopping 15 watts..
Anton,
I also have a 20 gallon with the perfecto-type hood. You're right
that one bulb will not cut it, as I also thought. Here's what I did
and it is working *very* well. I first removed the glass; oooh, I
know it's dangerous. I gutted the hood components out; ballast,
starter, everything. I had saved an old desk lamp from college. It
was a double bulb 18 incher. I gutted the lamp. The old lamp had the
two bulb ends on a handy guide. The guide fit right into my hood.
There was no room for the ballast, so I mounted them outside
on the back of the hood. They get warm, but I haven't noticed any
heat problems from them on the plastic. I mounted the starters in the
hood, one at either end; there is room. I installed an aluminum
reflector inside, also. There in a plug for each ballast, that's the
only drawback, unless you get a bigger ballast that'll run both
lights. My ballasts were old and made a humming sound when on. To
Lowes I went, where I bought two new ones for ~$2.50 each. Man what a
difference it made, almost like night and day. Then, of course, you
can buy a double light hood by Perfecto for ~$60 in the ThatFishPlace
catalogue. Try a little experimenting, ask old buddies for their desk
lamps, you can make a killer hood!
____________________________________________________________
Jamie Johnson "Keep your eyes on the stars
Chemist-Trace Metals and your feet on the ground"
Davis & Floyd, Inc. -Theodore Roosevelt
jjohnson at davisfloyd_com