Help me choose a t5 ballast

Velcro · Sep 23, 2017

i want to add some 24" t5 to my setup. I have space for three bulbs/reflectors. The icecap and workhorse ballasts Come to mind for three bulbs, but both have their issues. The icecap overdrives the bulbs which reduces life. The work horse is instant start and doesn't have end of life protection so possibly is a safety concern.

Is there a ballast that is program start with end of life protection that could power 3 24" bulbs? Or is there a ballast that can just do one bulb and I can use an HEP ballast for the other two bulbs?

Daniel@R2R · Sep 25, 2017

Hey @Velcro, I moved your thread to the lighting forum bc I'm hoping maybe it will get better help here. Also, I'll tag the #reefsquad. Some of those guys are a lot more knowledgable than I am on ballast brands. Based on my limited knowledge, I've been more inclined towards the workhorse ballasts.

Velcro · Sep 25, 2017

mdbannister said:
Hey @Velcro, I moved your thread to the lighting forum bc I'm hoping maybe it will get better help here. Also, I'll tag the #reefsquad. Some of those guys are a lot more knowledgable than I am on ballast brands. Based on my limited knowledge, I've been more inclined towards the workhorse ballasts.

Hey, thanks. I appreciate that. I actually decided (if I end up adding t5 to my setup) that I will use the fullham racehorse ballasts. They are the higher end version of the workhorse ballasts and have programmed start/end of life protection and can run 1 or 2 bulbs each.