80W T5 ballast?

[Anonymous]

Ok so I'm trying to figure out a ballast to use a couple 80w T5s (5 footers)... I'd like to use these on my 6 foot long tank over 4 - 3 foot bulbs because the price of bulbs is like a buck or two more per foot upgrade, so it'd be cheaper to stick with the 5 footers.

So anyways I'm going by what I know is out there, I'm hoping someone else could chime in.
Fulham Workhorse 7, it's capable of 220w, so it can handle the 80watters I'm guessing.
Icecap (whatever) ballast, I really don't want to go here, these ballast are way overpriced for what they do, another "aquarium stamp of inflation" right here.

So anyone else have ideas for ballasts?

 

[camaroracer214]

just get two icecap 660's and use them to power 6 bulbs. that's what i did and they're super bright.

 

[Ben1]

I heard the icecaps overdrive the bulbs causing them to put off more par, and shorten thier life if not properly cooling the bulbs.

My tek fixture comes with Accustart 5 Triad Brand ballast from Universal. I got my replacement from http://www.atlantalightbulbs.com/ who seem to have a wide range of ballast available maybe you can find one there.

 

[Anonymous]

Use the workhorse.

Go to www.fulham.com

on the right, there's a ballast finder Select T5HO in the first box.

Then pick the number and size of the bulb you want.
Two bulbs is a workhorse 5

 

[Anonymous]

oh, if you can't find them locally, get a couple of ballasts when you order, or even start a group buy. the ballasts only weigh half a pound, so the difference on shipping 1 or 4 is negledgable.

this place happens to have them on sale:
http://www.prolighting.com/wo7elba12loc.html


B

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Bingo, for some reason I was thinking to mathematically and not logically enough. WH7 which I do have powering my 54W t5s on my other tank, is 220W total, with 4 wires coming off it, so I figured "Oh each wire can only carry 55W to it.... " yeah wish I rethought that.

But I'll probably order one or two extras (new ones), as to the Icecap, I refuse to buy that out of principle alone, I can't see paying $150 for a $40 solution just because it doesn't it's not made for the aquarium.