Lateral Line March 2011 - Hill Country Cichlid Club

7much, but 3 inches of space on a single layeraids in the removal of rocks and decorations,the catching of fish and maneuvering ofnets, and in the removal of hang on the backfilters for maintenance. This one disadvantageis why I ruled out the shop light as myprimary fish room light.Compact Florescent Light (CFL):In an attempt to install a light fixture thatresides 100% within the 2x4 frame of myracking system, I devised the installation ofcompact fluorescents. There are a plethoraof choices when selecting the CFL. Themost common CFL is the twist lampthat most of us use in our homes. Ichose not to use the twist in style CFLlamps, but rather a pin based plug inlamp with a GU24 base. This designwas intended to simplify the eventualupgrade of the lamps to LED lampswhich commonly come in the GU24base. At the time I had not discoveredan affordable supply of LED lamps,but I knew that one day I would findone.After a careful selection, I selected aballast and CFL that would work formy situation. The selection was primarilybased on cost. I found that theballasts are so expensive that theydwarf the cost of the rest of the fixture.While searching, I looked for something thatis less than 3 ½ inches tall AND less than 14inches long. The length was important becauseif the lamp were longer, I would notbe able to install or replace it inside the rack.The selected lamp is 1½ inches tall and 8inches long and I found affordable ballaststhat can operate two of the selected lampseach.After much research, I assembled a materiallist and started to order. As I practiced installingI discovered that the installation ofthis design is not simple or easy. It took mea good 2 hours of trial and error research todiscover how to properly wire the ballast tothe lamps. The ballast came with 9 differentwiring methods and only one of the 9worked. In Table 2 is a list of what I ordered.These were the best prices I couldfind anywhere I looked, both locally andonline. As I build the lights I continued toimprove on the design. As can be seen in thephotos, I do not have the Stainless Steel foilas a grounding base behind the lamps as Iadded that to the design as a later date.The ballast was purchased from1000bulbs.com which is based in Garland,Texas. The part number is “BF-WH2120CC”. I also purchased my CFLlamps from the same company. The catalognumber for the CFL lamps is “FC13-G24Q141OD”. I ordered the lamp base fromLightBulbEmporium.com, the same place Iordered the LED lamp bases. The CFL lampbase is similar to that of the LED’s, but it isa little different. The part number for thebase is “90-1549”. Many of the smaller