Odd Ballast Question
 

Hey guys,

ok this is a weird question but I cant find the information I need anywhere online after searching for 30 or so minutes.

Basically, I am renting a house and the previous owner installed a lighting strip in a very weird spot under the 2nd shelf of a basement rack so as to light the lowest shelf.

Now my first inclination is that this light could have very well been used for hydroponics, based on its location, but I have no idea really.

Anyways, I finally got around to unscrewing the fixture and taking a look. Its nothing special from the looks of it, but I wanted to know if it had any kind of potential to any lighting for anything in my tank lol.

Basically it is a Phillips RQM-2S40-TPC ballast within a 4 foot housing unit. No reflectors. The bulbs I cant even tell what wattage they are. They have a label that says Sylvania F40 Cool White Lifeline XL so I dunno what that means.

Anyone able to offer an opinion? Perhaps if I used this ballast to power a smaller light for a chamber in my sump to grow coral frags? Is that possible with this setup/ballast at all?

Sounds like a fairly standard fluorescent fixture. I doubt that it would be suitable for growing coral frags, but it may be useful over a refugium growing macro algae, chaeto, etc.

Yep, sounds like a T12 ballast. I believe that T12's will soon be out of production if they aren't already. The F40 indicates a 40 watt lamp. They normally will fire 34 or 40 lamps. As mentioned you won't get much use from it unless you want to grow stuff in your fuge with it.

Thanks guys, I wonder why she had it placed where she did. Pretty odd. I guess I'll just use it to light my basement... until production stops on these bulbs lol.