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My ballast blew out today :sad: , and i cant get a new light till the end of the month. will my zoas, gsp, pallys, shrooms and peppermint shrimp going to be ok? Is there anything i can temporarily use to help? Thanks.
how long can you go without lighting
- Thread starter rachell321
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I'd say no more than 5 days. How much sunlight gets into the room? If a lot, then you could go a little longer. I'm sure there is someone here who has an extra light/ballast you can borrow for a little bit, so your corals aren't deprived.
What size tank do you have? The corals you mention could go quite a while without light, especially the mushrooms and gsp. If it is a small tank and you can't borrow a light, you could get a shop light from HD or Lowes and put a full spectrum bulb in it. That's not ideal but I think everythng would be OK until you get the new ballast or light.
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its for a coralife 2x 18 watt fixture. Im assuming its one of the ballast. Neither bulb will turn on, opened it up, all the wiring looks ok.. oh well i was planing on upgrading fixtures at the end of the month. ill see if i can scrounge some cash up for something temporary.:sad:
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Its a 10g, i was going to upgrade to a 30 when i got a new light..
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would I be able to get a way with basic bulbs like thesehttp://www.bigalsonline.com/All-Glass-Incandescent-Bulbs.html?green=17600161669&tc=default">http://www.bigalsonline.com/All-Glass-Incandescent-Bulbs.html?green=17600161669&tc=default</a>
plus 2 blue cold cathodes like these[IMG]http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=130-250&source=googleps">http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=130-250&source=googleps</a>
I have both laying around. thanks
plus 2 blue cold cathodes like these[IMG]http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=130-250&source=googleps">http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=130-250&source=googleps</a>
I have both laying around. thanks
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thanks guys.. ill get a few cfl's i have a few lamps i can turn into pendant lights. Then i will proceed with finding better lighting on a budget.
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Ok, so i got two 75 wt equivalent daytime(6500k)bulbs. My corals look better than they ever did with my coralife 50/50 bulbs. I have a small rock covered in palys, the have doubled in size and have several new heads, all this within a matter of days. They are also on the bottem of the tank. I think I am going to make a canopy with 6 of these bulbs, and suplement with blue leds. Any thoughts?
Rachel, if I had to throw out a guess I'd say the Coralife bulbs were really old. They lose intensity as they age. New bulbs may be giving the corals what they have been starving for. If you are happy with the color, and your corals are happy, go for it. Most would find 6500K to be way too yellow/white, but that's a personal choice. The bluer/higher K the bulb, the more the colors will "pop" visually... but the warmer bulbs can give good growth.
One thing that you should note: If by "doubled in size" you mean taller</em>... that is a sign that they need more light. Palys will "stretch" up to get closer to the light if they need more.
One thing that you should note: If by "doubled in size" you mean taller</em>... that is a sign that they need more light. Palys will "stretch" up to get closer to the light if they need more.
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Both Coralife bulbs were a month old. I do prefer much more blue than what I have now. The blue leds should help with this though right?. The palys have doubled in circumference, and my zoas have opened up more and just look better in general. Everything just looks a bit washed out because of the color temp.
