I plan to use an electronic ballast, and apparently regular metal halide bulbs wont work with an electronic ballast. So I suppose I need either an e start bulb or a conversion bulb?
there is no such a thing as a regular electronic ballast, all ballasts are tuned to the bulb, and visa versa ..it vital that you use the correct ballast for the given bulb
buy a kit is the best advice, and a 400w mh is cheap too
The 315w ceramic metal halide would be the best but pretty pricey to invest in initially. Personally I got that apollo 600w if I could choose again I would get the cmh. yield reports are nearly 800g on them. But they are like $500.