question for any DIY'ers

so when i bought my 40 acrylic, it came with a crappy flourescent fixture inside of a hood. This is the exact tank and fixture that i had prior to upgrading things. SeaClear 40 Gallon Tanks - Aquariums - Fish - PetSmart

My question is, i have been scrapping around at miscelannous items I am not using at the moment and have so far got a temp guage, HOB filter, aqueon 125 powerhead, and this light fixture, everything enough to get a new small tank started (I might do a freshwater planted low light tank). So my question is, the fixture is originally 24" long. I unscrewed everything so that all that there is is the wiring, plug in, and end caps. I took a 50/50 ZooMed flourescent bulb, plugged it in and "vwala" it works. However this bulb is only 15". Does changing the length have anything I should worry about? On part of the wiring (where before the bulb turns on, another little light turns on in the middle of the wiring). Around that it says, 14-15-20W. Does this mean you could use any of those wattages? At any length?

 

Wattage is more of a factor/concern than length. Just make sure the new bulb wattage does not exceed the limit of the fixture.... Matching wattage to the original bulb, or using less, should be perfectly fine...I'd consider that a safe bet.

Not sure what the 14-15-20W means...sorry.

A decent example of various bulb lengths/sizes being okay; is all the new bulbs on the market for our standard (old fashion) light sockets... There's CFLs, LEDS, etc, in various shapes, sizes and colors that operate in the same socket....as long as the wattage used is within the fixtures limits...

 

ok thanks i understand all that. But wouldnt a wattage that exceeded the fixtures limits not even fire up?

 

is this t8 or t12. the light with the numbers around it sounds like it may be the starter for that bulb. if so the starter is good for thos watts. but maybe not the ballast.

 

Not necessarily. It may work indefinitely, but typically if the fixture's wattage limits are exceeded, too much current will be drawn--eventually something's gonna give in there.... That's when you "let the smoke out..."

 

Like HGC stated, there's other factors to consider...other components involved. I was assuming your using the same class of bulb, same connections, just different color/size....

 

heres a better idea of what im doing. The first pic is what the fixture basically looked like before i removed everything. The second pic shows the little bulb thing that fires up before the actual flourescent fixture bulb does. The third picture is some safety warnings on the original fixture. Any advise?

 

yep looks like a starter 20 watt max ... is that a low voltage light? is that the power supply in your hand?

 

the power supply is in my hand in the 2nd picture. The third picture closeup shows the wiring and when I hit the on button, that little thing in my hand "fires up" then the fixture starts. Its a regular flourescent bulb thats 50/50.