Asmodeus

OK thanks, so you think 80w will be enough then? Btw Ideal Electrical quoted me exactly half what Hollywood is charging for a twin 39w T5 ballast... Are they easy to wire in? EDIT: Just saw the Hollywood one has end caps (Ideal Electrical was just a ballast unit), so does that mean it's ready to plug bulbs into and you just need to mount it?

Hi guys, I have a 200l Sunsun tank which takes 94cm tubes, and as we all know, the built in lighting sucks When I got the tank the ballast was already shot and so I have a few options as I see it 1) Replace the stuffed ballast and rewire in a new one. I don't know how to do this myself and it also means I'd still only have 2 tubes in there. Is 2x 39w T5HO tubes enough for a 50cm deep tank? 2) Remove all of the SUN Sun stuff and chuck in something like this under the hood. Has anyone else done this? 3) Remove the Sun Sun crap and use LED lighting of some kind. What would you suggest? I'd like to grow some plants but it wouldn't be a heavily planted tank. Any and all help welcome as I'm a bit stuck here! Cheers

I've actually heard quite a few good things and not many bad things about the sunsun cannister filters and have one myself (which I haven't actually used yet). Interwebs seems to be mostly in favour of them. Which model are you using? I have the 304B UV (2000l/h) which I plan to run on a 200l tank. Should be more than enough for me but since you are running a 450l then yeah you may want more

Nothing in particular in mind yet but I think want an end product that looks similar in density and appearance to this. Possibly a bit more low ground cover here and there

Good idea :thup:

OK thanks guys, will use a big plastic tub I have. I don't plan on getting gravel grubbing fish except maybe a pleco or two. This stuff would be Ok with them right?

I forked out for an Aquaterra one because the Juwel and Aquaone ones look like crap IMO So I ended up getting an Aquaterra one shipped here from Malta lol Blows the common locally available ones out of the water. From what Ive seen you either pay for a quality brand or spend the time and effort to make it yourself if you want somethign that looks good/realistic. I got this one. Not my tank but exactly the same background (Aquaterra Canyon rock Red)

I have a couple of sacks of grit from Stone and Water World and was just wondering how best to wash it before use? It doesn't seem dusty like some rocks and pebbles do, but I suspect it should still be washed. I put a handful in my kitchen sieve but it all went through lol. I don't think I can wash it in the sack it comes in as they don't look very porous (plastic). Could I use cheese cloth with my sieve or something, or is there a simpler way? Does this stuff even need to be washed? :dunno: Cheers

I have seen distilled water for drinking in Countdown. Was in one of those big rectangular containers.

My tank is 60cm high. I'd like to have a fair bit of ground cover, a few medium plants and a couple of nice specimen plants if possible, but not heavily planted. As I said I don;t want to obscure the background or have to do too much pruning/clearing but I do want some live plants

Sorry I do mean in length. I will look into LED lighting strips. do they have enough output to grow plants well? Ok cool. I dunno if 2x24w is enough for my 200l tank (but it may be?). Current setup is 2x 39w which gives 0.4W/litre. The rig you posted would only give me 0.24W/l. They also do a 1000mm one as you say which is 2x39w but I don't know if I'd be able to get the hood on with that thing on it. Have you got a hood or do you just have those lights sitting on top?

Do you mind linking to the unit you bought please? Oh yeah? How much would that cost? Is there a ready-to-go-unit that I could use? My tank is 1m wide so a 3 footer would be the go

Thanks, yeah I have opened up the ballast cover, just haven't started pulling wires yet Good to know they can be had cheaply. Hollywood is charging $120 for the Hagen unit.... :sml2: And yeah I'm really happy with the tank overall, just need to get this ballast swapped out. I read that the sunsun lighting wiring doesn't come up to Australian electrical standards and the guy at my LFS told me to swap it whether it needs it or not if it's the original ballast Will get on to it and probably ask my other questions in new threads if no one else has any other input. Cheers

I know what kind of ballast it is. It's a 39wx2 T5 fluorescent light ballast. Are you saying you bought one for $12?

I can almost hear the collective sighs from here It seems that I'm not the first to have issues with the built-in sunsun lights...! Anyway, I bought a sunsun 200l tank on trademe for a good price and am having issues with the lighting rig built into the hood. The issue is that it doesn't work! I have done the obvious things, (tried new tubes anjd checked th fus which is fine) but still no joy. That leads me to the notorious ballasts that come with these tanks. I've opened up the hood and found the ballast but haven't tried getting it out yet. I have a friend who is an electrician and if I do replace the ballast I will have him wire it up to be safe. My questions are the following; 1) Is it likely to be the ballast that is stuffed? The trademe listing for the tank mentioned that "one of the bulbs needed replacing" which possibly indicates it worked at some point recently. I didn't try it for a month though as I have been moving house, etc and when I did, nothing... Is there anything else it could be? Starters perhaps? I can't see them but haven't fully pulled the hood to bits yet 2) Should I just replace the ballast anyway to be safe? If so, what's the best deal around? (ballast is 2x 39w T5). I saw them at Hollywood but they looked expensive. many cheaper on ebay, etc but would rather not get another junk one... 3) No reflectors on this hood, there is just bare aluminium which is very dull. Could I stick on some mylar? Like the stuff they sell in, um, hydroponic stores? I've heard it is a better reflector than actual mirrors but keen for any thoughts? http://www.easygrow.co.nz/reflective-fi ... 125m-.html 4) Would anyone suggest actually yanking the whole lighting rig out of the hood and popping in a completely new entire unit to avoid all of this? Have you heard of anyone doing this? :dunno: 5) Last one I promise, is 80w enough for a 200l tank if I use good reflectors? I plan to have plants but don;t want to plant heavily as I have a nice 3d background I don't want to hide and I don't intend to use C02 (I think) Cheers!

Hi all, Relative newbie signing in here from Auckland! I've owned tropical fish before (100l tank for 3 years) and am just getting back into it with a 200l tank in my new place. Plenty of questions of course and this looks like the place to be! Looking forward to it :bounce: