overdriving t5's

[jc]

Do I absolutely have to use a fan to cool down my t5 bulbs if I am using an icecap 660? I plan on changing the bulbs every year anyway. Also, is there any other ballast that can run 4 x 54w bulbs at once? I have limited space on my power strip and I would like to keep the lighting to just one plug.

[BIGBIRD123]

According to Anthony Calfo, if you do not run fans over the endcaps, not the bulbs , the bulbs will lose their par and can be trash within a week. You want to cool the end cap and not the bulb.

[jc]

That is what i'm doing with my reef tank. I have 2 fans running on both ends of the lamps. What happened is I made a mistake. I was eager to buy a ballast that would power up 4 bulbs for my planted discus tank. Then I realized that it might be too bright for the fish and the noise from the fan was annoying. I would prefer to not overdrive the lamps because I want to keep the bulbs as long as possible. For my corals I switch bulbs at once a year. I don't want to do that for my plants. Does anyone have any experience with workhorse 7 ballast?

[Gseclipse02]

i use the 2 WH 7's on my tank and i like the ballast for the price easy to wire also

[BIGBIRD123]

I am running 4-36" bulbs on a WH7 with no problems...I like them.

[jc]

Will a workhorse 7 power 4 four foot bulbs? I'm assuming it runs the bulbs at their proper wattage? In my case 54w.

[Gseclipse02]

Will a workhorse 7 power 4 four foot bulbs? I'm assuming it runs the bulbs at their proper wattage? In my case 54w.

yes it over drives by like 2 watts i think

[Gseclipse02]

looked it up 1 watt

[jc]

Great so I won't need a fan to cool the bulbs.