Was given this Aquarium lamp which originally made for use in Japan and have
been using it here in the U.K. plugged into a 100volt transformer. Its now
flickering on and off like there is no tomorrow.

Presumably I can buy a new similar lamp which works on 240 volt rather than
100volt? But what to do to replace this item which says Ballast on the
label?

Photo of all the bits on a host web site

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=15q65uv&s=5


On the cover it says: 'Ballast', M/No. PL13-1005/6 PL13W x 1. Imput:100V
50/60Hz 0.285A.

And on the Lamp it says: Aqua Lux 13W 7200K

Grateful for any advice on how to set it all up to work on 240 volts.
Thanks.

"john east" wrote in message
...
Was given this Aquarium lamp which originally made for use in Japan and
have been using it here in the U.K. plugged into a 100volt transformer.
Its now flickering on and off like there is no tomorrow.

Presumably I can buy a new similar lamp which works on 240 volt rather
than 100volt? But what to do to replace this item which says Ballast on
the label?

Photo of all the bits on a host web site

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=15q65uv&s=5


On the cover it says: 'Ballast', M/No. PL13-1005/6 PL13W x 1. Imput:100V
50/60Hz 0.285A.

And on the Lamp it says: Aqua Lux 13W 7200K

Grateful for any advice on how to set it all up to work on 240 volts.
Thanks.


Buy a new ballast and lamp from an aquarium shop.
I would chuck the whole thing as I don't like the way the tube connects
assuming its those floating wires I can see.
I have seen similar lights in my local shop for about £20 ( same tube, 240V
ballast and a proper holder for the lamp).

You could use some LED strips like the lidl ones for £15 or from eBay.

On 02/01/2012 13:33, dennis@home wrote:


"john east" wrote in message
...
Was given this Aquarium lamp which originally made for use in Japan
and have been using it here in the U.K. plugged into a 100volt
transformer. Its now flickering on and off like there is no tomorrow.

Presumably I can buy a new similar lamp which works on 240 volt rather
than 100volt? But what to do to replace this item which says Ballast
on the label?

Photo of all the bits on a host web site

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=15q65uv&s=5


On the cover it says: 'Ballast', M/No. PL13-1005/6 PL13W x 1.
Imput:100V 50/60Hz 0.285A.

And on the Lamp it says: Aqua Lux 13W 7200K

Grateful for any advice on how to set it all up to work on 240 volts.
Thanks.


Buy a new ballast and lamp from an aquarium shop.
I would chuck the whole thing as I don't like the way the tube connects
assuming its those floating wires I can see.
I have seen similar lights in my local shop for about £20 ( same tube,
240V ballast and a proper holder for the lamp).

You could use some LED strips like the lidl ones for £15 or from eBay.

No you couldn't!
The phosphors on aquarium tubes are chosen to provide the right spectrum
of light for fish, plants, corals etc - in some cases a mixture of
different fluorescent tubes and/or gas discharge lighting is used - LED
strips from LIDL are almost certainly not suitable.
It's not just 'a pretty light' that's required.

Adrian

On Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:19:06 +0000, Adrian Brentnall
wrote:

On 02/01/2012 13:33, dennis@home wrote:


"john east" wrote in message
...
Was given this Aquarium lamp which originally made for use in Japan
and have been using it here in the U.K. plugged into a 100volt
transformer. Its now flickering on and off like there is no tomorrow.

Presumably I can buy a new similar lamp which works on 240 volt rather
than 100volt? But what to do to replace this item which says Ballast
on the label?

Photo of all the bits on a host web site

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=15q65uv&s=5


On the cover it says: 'Ballast', M/No. PL13-1005/6 PL13W x 1.
Imput:100V 50/60Hz 0.285A.

And on the Lamp it says: Aqua Lux 13W 7200K

Grateful for any advice on how to set it all up to work on 240 volts.
Thanks.


Buy a new ballast and lamp from an aquarium shop.
I would chuck the whole thing as I don't like the way the tube connects
assuming its those floating wires I can see.
I have seen similar lights in my local shop for about £20 ( same tube,
240V ballast and a proper holder for the lamp).

You could use some LED strips like the lidl ones for £15 or from eBay.

No you couldn't!
The phosphors on aquarium tubes are chosen to provide the right spectrum
of light for fish, plants, corals etc - in some cases a mixture of
different fluorescent tubes and/or gas discharge lighting is used - LED
strips from LIDL are almost certainly not suitable.
It's not just 'a pretty light' that's required.

Adrian

I discourage any living organisms in my fish tank except the fish!
Plastic plants, no risk of introducing those little snails that you
can't get rid of, and very little algae.

I've even has fish breed 3 times in a year, and didn't do anything
special, the tank got so crowded I thought I would have to give some
away.



--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%

On Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:26:03 +0000
Graham. wrote:

On Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:19:06 +0000, Adrian Brentnall
wrote:

On 02/01/2012 13:33, dennis@home wrote:


"john east" wrote in message
...
Was given this Aquarium lamp which originally made for use in
Japan and have been using it here in the U.K. plugged into a
100volt transformer. Its now flickering on and off like there is
no tomorrow.

Presumably I can buy a new similar lamp which works on 240 volt
rather than 100volt? But what to do to replace this item which
says Ballast on the label?

Photo of all the bits on a host web site

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=15q65uv&s=5


On the cover it says: 'Ballast', M/No. PL13-1005/6 PL13W x 1.
Imput:100V 50/60Hz 0.285A.

And on the Lamp it says: Aqua Lux 13W 7200K

Grateful for any advice on how to set it all up to work on 240
volts. Thanks.


Buy a new ballast and lamp from an aquarium shop.
I would chuck the whole thing as I don't like the way the tube
connects assuming its those floating wires I can see.
I have seen similar lights in my local shop for about £20 ( same
tube, 240V ballast and a proper holder for the lamp).

You could use some LED strips like the lidl ones for £15 or from
eBay.

No you couldn't!
The phosphors on aquarium tubes are chosen to provide the right
spectrum of light for fish, plants, corals etc - in some cases a
mixture of different fluorescent tubes and/or gas discharge lighting
is used - LED strips from LIDL are almost certainly not suitable.
It's not just 'a pretty light' that's required.

Adrian

I discourage any living organisms in my fish tank except the fish!
Plastic plants, no risk of introducing those little snails that you
can't get rid of, and very little algae.

I've even has fish breed 3 times in a year, and didn't do anything
special, the tank got so crowded I thought I would have to give some
away.




....until you introduced the piranhas, that is?
--
Davey.

"Adrian Brentnall" wrote in message
...

You could use some LED strips like the lidl ones for £15 or from eBay.

No you couldn't!
The phosphors on aquarium tubes are chosen to provide the right spectrum
of light for fish, plants, corals etc - in some cases a mixture of
different fluorescent tubes and/or gas discharge lighting is used - LED
strips from LIDL are almost certainly not suitable.
It's not just 'a pretty light' that's required.


Yes it is.
The fish don't care.
The plants photosynthesis if there is enough light and its damn hard to
balance plants and fish anyway so most people just shove in silk/plastic
ones rather than trying to balance CO2, etc.
The coral is dead.
You chose whichever tube gives you the feeling its pretty.
I have some T5 daylight + a very white one supposedly for corals tubes
myself.

"Davey" wrote in message
...

...until you introduced the piranhas, that is?

A couple of angelfish will keep the young'uns under control.

On 02/01/12 12:55, john east wrote:
Was given this Aquarium lamp which originally made for use in Japan and have
been using it here in the U.K. plugged into a 100volt transformer. Its now
flickering on and off like there is no tomorrow.

Presumably I can buy a new similar lamp which works on 240 volt rather than
100volt? But what to do to replace this item which says Ballast on the
label?

Photo of all the bits on a host web site

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=15q65uv&s=5


On the cover it says: 'Ballast', M/No. PL13-1005/6 PL13W x 1. Imput:100V
50/60Hz 0.285A.

And on the Lamp it says: Aqua Lux 13W 7200K

Grateful for any advice on how to set it all up to work on 240 volts.
Thanks.

You'll probably have trouble finding a plug-top ballast cheaply -
they're the kind of thing you only ever see as part of a complete
fitting. It'd probably be less hassle to buy a whole new fitting.

The supply voltage is irrelevant to the tube, so a UK-sourced tube
should run fine in the fitting with the ballast and transformer as before.

Cheers,

Colin.

In article ,
"john east" writes:
Was given this Aquarium lamp which originally made for use in Japan and have
been using it here in the U.K. plugged into a 100volt transformer. Its now
flickering on and off like there is no tomorrow.

Presumably I can buy a new similar lamp which works on 240 volt rather than
100volt? But what to do to replace this item which says Ballast on the
label?

Photo of all the bits on a host web site

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=15q65uv&s=5

It's a standard lamp size, often called TC, available in 5, 7, 9, and 11W

On the cover it says: 'Ballast', M/No. PL13-1005/6 PL13W x 1. Imput:100V
50/60Hz 0.285A.

And on the Lamp it says: Aqua Lux 13W 7200K

Grateful for any advice on how to set it all up to work on 240 volts.

You need a new fitting - the one pictured isn't suitable for conversion
to 240V. It sounds like you need a new tube too, so you can simply toss
the whole lot into the bin and start again without losing anything.

Go to a (UK) aquarium supplier and look for a new lighting solution
there, not from a country with different mains voltage.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Mon, 2 Jan 2012 16:02:54 -0000, "dennis@home"
wrote:

The coral is dead.

I think he meant live coral where the light is critical, not to
mention the required flow of water across it. With live coral, you can
really stuff the fish, much more to look at.

"Ericp" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 2 Jan 2012 16:02:54 -0000, "dennis@home"
wrote:

The coral is dead.

I think he meant live coral where the light is critical, not to
mention the required flow of water across it. With live coral, you can
really stuff the fish, much more to look at.

There is much more to keeping coral alive than the light.

Personally I don't think people should harvest live coral to kill in
aquariums.

dennis@home wrote:


"Davey" wrote in message
...

...until you introduced the piranhas, that is?

A couple of angelfish will keep the young'uns under control.

Guppies keep their own young under control, which is why you need to
leave some plants in as shelter.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

"Colin Stamp" wrote in message
news
On 02/01/12 12:55, john east wrote:
Was given this Aquarium lamp which originally made for use in Japan and
have
been using it here in the U.K. plugged into a 100volt transformer. Its
now
flickering on and off like there is no tomorrow.

Presumably I can buy a new similar lamp which works on 240 volt rather
than
100volt? But what to do to replace this item which says Ballast on the
label?

Photo of all the bits on a host web site

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=15q65uv&s=5


On the cover it says: 'Ballast', M/No. PL13-1005/6 PL13W x 1.
Imput:100V
50/60Hz 0.285A.

And on the Lamp it says: Aqua Lux 13W 7200K

Grateful for any advice on how to set it all up to work on 240 volts.
Thanks.
================================================== ======================================
You'll probably have trouble finding a plug-top ballast cheaply - they're
the kind of thing you only ever see as part of a complete fitting. It'd
probably be less hassle to buy a whole new fitting.

The supply voltage is irrelevant to the tube, so a UK-sourced tube should
run fine in the fitting with the ballast and transformer as before.
Cheers,
Colin.

================================================== =======================================

So it looks to me that Colin's advice of getting a U.K. tube, (since the
supply voltage is irrelevant to the tube) is the easiest and cheapest
solution. Thanks and thanks to all.

On 02/01/2012 15:26, Graham. wrote:

I discourage any living organisms in my fish tank except the fish!
Plastic plants, no risk of introducing those little snails that you
can't get rid of, and very little algae.

Assuming this is a freshwater tank....
You need to encourage nitrifying bacteria at the very least - normally
in the pump filter. Otherwise you'll get a build up of toxic ammonia.
The bacteria convert excreted nitrogen compounds to nitrite, then
nitrate, which would (normally) then be used by live plants.

Without live plants the excess nitrate encourages algae. Assassin snails
are very good at controlling plant snails.

Finally (IMHO) plastic plant just looks awful.

--
Reentrant

On Mon, 2 Jan 2012 16:04:46 -0000, "dennis@home"
wrote:



"Davey" wrote in message
...

...until you introduced the piranhas, that is?

A couple of angelfish will keep the young'uns under control.

A couple of these will keep anyone under control...

ITV1 Tues 7.30pm River Monster
Series 3, Episode 1: The Mutilator
New series of the show in which biologist and extreme angler Jeremy
Wade searches for some of the world's most terrifying fish. In this
episode, he travels to Papua New Guinea to investigate a spate of
bizarre deaths on the Sepik River. He is on the trail of a water
creature that has been tearing chunks out of fishermen and devouring
male body parts. Known locally as the 'ball-cutter', this lone hunter
with vice-like jaws has so far taken the lives of two fishermen.
Jeremy has never fished this part of the world and knows little of
what might be out there - is he ready for what he will find? TWTR SUB

Weirdest set of fish teeth I ever saw - as the man said on the prog,
just like a human mouth.

"Reentrant" wrote in message
...
On 02/01/2012 15:26, Graham. wrote:

I discourage any living organisms in my fish tank except the fish!
Plastic plants, no risk of introducing those little snails that you
can't get rid of, and very little algae.

Assuming this is a freshwater tank....
You need to encourage nitrifying bacteria at the very least - normally in
the pump filter. Otherwise you'll get a build up of toxic ammonia. The
bacteria convert excreted nitrogen compounds to nitrite, then nitrate,
which would (normally) then be used by live plants.

Without live plants the excess nitrate encourages algae. Assassin snails
are very good at controlling plant snails.

Finally (IMHO) plastic plant just looks awful.
Reentrant

================================================== ===========================

I'm always careful to maintain the green bacteria in the sponge filter of my
underwater aquarium pump (fresh water), but i still get a dark green algea
growing on everything including any live plants i put in.

The plants never seem to last long. The tank is not near a window, but at
the back of the south facing room. I change ten percent of the water every
week. Reentrant any suggestions please, to get plants to live long and
without the algae?

In article ,
"john east" writes:

I'm always careful to maintain the green bacteria in the sponge filter of my
underwater aquarium pump (fresh water), but i still get a dark green algea
growing on everything including any live plants i put in.

The plants never seem to last long. The tank is not near a window, but at
the back of the south facing room. I change ten percent of the water every
week. Reentrant any suggestions please, to get plants to live long and
without the algae?

The light you have is useless for plants. You want a growlux type light,
or a warm white (2700K) is also a reasonably good match (need plenty of
red component). However, you would need higher power too, or just a
little sunlight will swamp whatever you provide artificially. I rather
imagine the algae will benefit equally though. Algae grow on the
nitrogen from fish (or other) droppings, or rotting vegetation.
I used to keep fish, and algae was generally a sign that you weren't
cleaning the nitrogen (droppings) out of the tank often or well enough,
which will ultimately turn into ammonia. Don't know what your green
bacteria in the sponge filter are, but I used to disinfect and clean
the filter more often than anything, but make sure that in removing the
filter, you don't let any water drain out of it back into the tank,
which would be highly contaminated with nitrogen products. I didn't
change any of the water weekly, but did change it all when cleaning
out the whole tank, perhaps every 10 weeks (don't recall precisely
now). With those measures, I didn't get any algae, and plants grew if
you had enough that the fish didn't eat them faster than they could
grow.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 04/01/2012 11:43, john east wrote:
wrote in message
...
On 02/01/2012 15:26, Graham. wrote:

I discourage any living organisms in my fish tank except the fish!
Plastic plants, no risk of introducing those little snails that you
can't get rid of, and very little algae.

Assuming this is a freshwater tank....
You need to encourage nitrifying bacteria at the very least - normally in
the pump filter. Otherwise you'll get a build up of toxic ammonia. The
bacteria convert excreted nitrogen compounds to nitrite, then nitrate,
which would (normally) then be used by live plants.

Without live plants the excess nitrate encourages algae. Assassin snails
are very good at controlling plant snails.

Finally (IMHO) plastic plant just looks awful.
Reentrant

================================================== ===========================

I'm always careful to maintain the green bacteria in the sponge filter of my
underwater aquarium pump (fresh water), but i still get a dark green algea
growing on everything including any live plants i put in.

The plants never seem to last long. The tank is not near a window, but at
the back of the south facing room. I change ten percent of the water every
week. Reentrant any suggestions please, to get plants to live long and
without the algae?


+1 for Grolux fluorescent tubes. You don't want any sunlight.

Check the water NO2, NO3, KH, pH, GH levels using test strips eg
http://www.eshalabs.com/testing.htm.

If that's OK the main cause of sickly plants and algae is lack of CO2.
I finally got around to buying a CO2 dosing system a few months ago and
it's made a big improvement to the plants. Apparently the yeast
generators are useless so I went for a regulator+gas-bottle type. Now
the plants are growing much better, the nitrate level has dropped, and
that's reduced algae.

--
Reentrant

"Reentrant" wrote in message
...

Check the water NO2, NO3, KH, pH, GH levels using test strips eg
http://www.eshalabs.com/testing.htm.

If that's OK the main cause of sickly plants and algae is lack of CO2.
I finally got around to buying a CO2 dosing system a few months ago and
it's made a big improvement to the plants. Apparently the yeast generators
are useless so I went for a regulator+gas-bottle type. Now the plants are
growing much better, the nitrate level has dropped, and that's reduced
algae.

I gave up on real plants, the fish eat them to quickly.
If you do put CO2 in then the plants do better but the fish don't.
Too much CO2 kills the fish and I have the tank for fish.
Rocks and bog wood make a good background without the plants.