T5 Retrofit

[SpeedRacer]

Hey all, first post here, been lurking a while, but not new to the MFK network(DrgRcr over on Aquaria Central).

Anyway, right now on my 125g, I have a couple of 3' normal output twin bulb fixtures from home depot. I'm really not too happy with the lighting(84w total), and honestly, I'd like a bit more to hopefully promote a little green algae growth for the mbuna in the tank. Plus, 3' NO bulbs are tougher to find, and the brand I'm forced to use don't seem to last at all. The majority of selection seems to be HO. So my question is, in order to change over to HO T5, can I just change out the ballast for these fixtures to convert them to HO? Or do I need to change the end caps as well? Best I can tell, both HO and NO bulbs are the same length(34" for 36" fixture). If changing out the ballast is all I need to do, does anyone have a good source for HO ballasts?

 

[RedDwarf]

If your current fixtures are T5 then all you would need to do is get new HO ballast for the fixtures and then wire them in. Now if your current fixtures are not T5 then you would need change the end caps and the ballast.

Here's an example of the ballast you would need to run for each fixture
http://www.specialty-lights.com/010555.html

Since I only run IceCap ballast (which are expensive) I'm not really sure what a good price on an electronic ballast should be.

 

[SpeedRacer]

Thanks RD. Yes the current fixtures are T5, I didn't realize I forgot to mention that. So I'll search around and see what T5 HO ballasts are out there.