Problem with Allglass fluorescence fixtures

[Pszemol]

I have two small freshwater tanks, one is 10 gallon, other 5 gallons.
I have two lamps by Allglass over them and I have noticed the white
plastic reflector is not dealing well with the heat the bulb generates.
Not only it gets soft when hot and bends in many directions, but when
cold it gets very fragile and breaks under touching it...
Yesterday I wanted to wash it off from dust with a damp cloth and
it almost completely disintegrated. Do you have the same problem ?

[Billy]

"Pszemol" > wrote in message ...
|I have two small freshwater tanks, one is 10 gallon, other 5 gallons.
| I have two lamps by Allglass over them and I have noticed the white
| plastic reflector is not dealing well with the heat the bulb generates.
| Not only it gets soft when hot and bends in many directions, but when
| cold it gets very fragile and breaks under touching it...
| Yesterday I wanted to wash it off from dust with a damp cloth and
| it almost completely disintegrated. Do you have the same problem ?

How old are the fixtures? Is it the bulb creating heat, or are the ballasts running hot? It doesn't sound normal to me.

[Pszemol]

"Billy" > wrote in message ...
> How old are the fixtures?

2 years. This is small, 16" fixture for 5 gallons tank.
And the larger one, 20" for the 10 gallons one.

> Is it the bulb creating heat, or are the ballasts running hot?

The bulb. The reflector is too close to the bulb.

> It doesn't sound normal to me.

:-) you are right.