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Originally Posted by KeNNy-
Hey Ruslan, what does PLL stands for? Can a ballast meant for 4ft 36Watts fit for a 2ft 20Watts tube? I tried searching for information regarding that but I couldn't find any. Wondered if any DIY person has actually tried that.
Btw, wow! Your riccia garden rocks. How did you manage to keep them grounded (riccia floats easily from what I've seen). Also, when the riccia spreads, do you have to re-tie them to new areas again?
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I am not sure what PL-L actually stands for but it is used by Philips to denote a type of fluorescent tube. The Osram equivalent is Dulux L. Some people call them Power Compacts. There are several wattages available but the common ones for aquarium use are the 36 W and the 55 W. The 36 W bulb is 18 inches long and is a good fit for 2 foot aquariums. As mentioned earlier, I use 2 bulbs for my 2 foot tank. The first picture shows my light casing and the various 36 W tubes. The second picture is a close-up shot of the ballast that is used in the casing and the ballast is sold separately in some LFS. Would be a good candidate for a DIY project because minimal wiring is needed. Third picture includes an electronic ballast that can drive 3 or 4 18 W tubes which I have been planning to incorporate in a DIY project.
I have no idea whether it is possible to drive a 20 W tube with a T8 36 W ballast. Are you trying to achieve greater output intensity with this configuration?
To keep the riccia 'grounded', I sandwich the riccia between a stainless steel mesh (available at certain hardware stores, got mine from the hardware store near Maybank in PJ Old Town) and one of those plastic meshes that are available in any hardware store. The stainless steel mesh is heavy and helps keep the whole thing on the bottom. The plastic mesh has larger holes to allow the riccia to grow without much obstruction. The sandwich is then secured with nylon line at the edges. Some of the Holland Sand was also used to bury the edges of the mesh so that it would not be visible. This worked fine until one day the amount of pearling created so much oxygen that it lifted the whole thing off the substrate. Hence the stone which is not there purely for aesthetic reasons...
To maintain the riccia, it has to be kept relatively short so the lower parts which are secured in the mesh still get enough light to stay healthy. Hence, a haircut once in a while...
I'm now trying a new method of securing the riccia. Some LFS (I got mine from Irene) sell a plastic enclosure with a mesh top and bottom (see picture No. 4). I put Holland sand to weigh it down and a thin layer of riccia on top. The enclosure is relatively costly but it is much faster to set-up than the other method which involves messing with nylon line (although some people do use staples instead, making things easier). The riccia in the picture has only been sandwiched for two days. Alternatives are using netting or nylon line to secure the riccia to rocks/driftwood.