In article m,
says...
Is anyone here familiar with overdriving NO fluorescent tubes?

I met a DIYer today (Marc, that's the guy I told you about with those5 stage
RO/DI units) that does this to his lamps.

Apparently you replace the balast with a higher output Electronic ballast
(About $10 from home depot) and it can double even triple the wattage of the
bulb. It operates at a higher frequency and does not shorten the life of
the bulb much at all. He's had a setup with a twin 30w 36" fixture that
with this balast is putting out 130watts after 1 year.

Will this trickery work for marine aquaria and corals???


Yep, it works. I've done it. I think the jury is still out over
whether it shortens the life of the bulb. However, even if it does it
is still a lot cheaper than any alternative. The hardest part was
hunting around to find 6500K 3' tubes.

You find lots of info about how to do it on Reefcentral.com. Be careful
with real electricity.

Alex