Asmodeus Posted August 20, 2012 Report Share Posted August 20, 2012 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuri08 Posted August 20, 2012 Report Share Posted August 20, 2012 take the hood to an electrical supplier and get them to see which ballasts it is i got my aqua one done for 12 dollars each easy to install and should fix the problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmodeus Posted August 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 I know what kind of ballast it is. It's a 39wx2 T5 fluorescent light ballast. Are you saying you bought one for $12? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 i had one for about 5 years and replaced the ballast just before i sold it. well, when i say "I", i actually dropped it off to a sparkie mate who fixed it. He replaced the ballast and didn't charge me anything at all so figure they aren't expensive. One tube wasn't working, when i swapped the tubes the same side failed to start so it's the ballast. don't be worried about sunsun tanks, they are far better than the aquaone units in every way IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 if your looking for the ballast, it's under the plastic cover above the tubes in the centre underside of the hood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmodeus Posted August 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dachende Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 I read similar things when I was researching whether to purchase a seperate lighting unit from Sunsun. I bought one anyway, t5 dual bulb for $100.00 , 3 foot long. Haven't been disappointed yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
land_lubber Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 Depends how much you are wanting to spend and what you plan on growing in your tank. Personally I would strip it out and replace with LEDs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmodeus Posted August 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 I read similar things when I was researching whether to purchase a seperate lighting unit from Sunsun. I bought one anyway, t5 dual bulb for $100.00 , 3 foot long. Haven't been disappointed yet Do you mind linking to the unit you bought please? Depends how much you are wanting to spend and what you plan on growing in your tank. Personally I would strip it out and replace with LEDs. 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
land_lubber Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 1 metre wide? or in length? not sure about ready made but I would just diy. You could do one for about $150, maybe a little more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dachende Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 http://www.trademe.co.nz/pets-animals/f ... 245243.htm The picture on the auction isn't very accurate for what the light actually looks like so I've attached another pic I found which is a far more accurate respresentation. I believe they come in 800, 1000 or 1200 long. I really like this light. I also have a quad t5 unit on the same tank and it is really bulky. These Sunsun lights are very slimline in height / width. :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmodeus Posted August 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 1 metre wide? or in length? not sure about ready made but I would just diy. You could do one for about $150, maybe a little more. Sorry I do mean in length. I will look into LED lighting strips. do they have enough output to grow plants well? http://www.trademe.co.nz/pets-animals/fish/lights-lamps/auction-504245243.htm The picture on the auction isn't very accurate for what the light actually looks like so I've attached another pic I found which is a far more accurate respresentation. I believe they come in 800, 1000 or 1200 long. I really like this light. I also have a quad t5 unit on the same tank and it is really bulky. These Sunsun lights are very slimline in height / width. :thup: 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dachende Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 I'm just running a basic glass 3ft (160L-ish) tank so it sits on top - I don't use the brackets that came with it, I just put a small piece of wood to give distance between the glass / lights to avoid overheating. I did use that light by itself for a good month , with no visible problems on plants but growth was slow (Except cabomba, but that stuff will grow in hell.) But then again, I only had amazon swords, cabomba and java fern. If you're looking to go minimalist with planting, you shouldn't need much light at all - perhaps even less than 1WPG. But this is wholly dependant on what plants you wish to have. What is the height on your tank ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmodeus Posted August 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirt Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 You currently have about 1.5WpG outdated rule though. Generally you should be looking at PAR to determine whether or not you would be able to grow plants. Plantedtank has a lot of good information on this. What kind of plants are you planning on using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmodeus Posted August 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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