I am in the process of putting the materials together for a 20 Long frag tank. I am planning on going with T5HO lighting and I already have a good bit of the materials I will need. My plan is to go with 3 X 24W bulbs. I already have a decent ballast, that being a Workhorse 2 ballast as well a Current 2 X 24W retro kit. I don't really know how the whole ballast thing works, but I am wondering if I can run a single 24W bulb on the Workhorse 2 and then 2 bulbs off the Current ballast? I know the Workhorse 2 is rated for 35W of bulb, but can it be used with just 25W of bulb?

The Retro kit came with 2 460 nM actinics. I want to get a couple of bulbs that would work well with one of those actinic bulbs, and then I would have a backup bulb. I intend to do the whole sunrise / sunset thing with the single actinic, then have the other 2 come on for the full light period. I want to come close to matching the spectrum of my Display tank. It has Phoenix 14,000 K with Geisemann Actinic Plus supplementation.

I know this is probably all discussed elsewhere, but I just don't have the time to invest in all the research it would take to find it. Any input and suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mitch

BUMP....for replies....

yes, fulham reccomends the workhorse 2 for a single f24 bulb (24" t5ho)

your running a phoenix 14k as the main bulb correct and you want the t5's for just suplemental looks? the current blues actully have a good color but low par, for you it doesnt matter because the halide will do the growing. if you just want to add a 3rd bulb you could use another current, or a uvl super actinic. if you want to add more growth and keep about the same color as the 14k i would use a ati blue + or aquascience 22k

here is the workhorse diagram from there page