I have heard of people over driving a bulb but never under driving it. The reason I ask is I have two extra 250w SE bulbs. I want to buy two ballasts and reflectors for my frag tank but 2 250w is to much. Running one will not spread the light out over the whole tank. So can I use a 250w bulb on a 175w ballast or will it cause the ballast to get hot or not ignite the bulb?