Hi,
IMHO, your ballast mislabeled. Actually it should say F96T12HO where HO is for high output (or double normal output). NOs usually have a lamp current of 430mA (for T12) and HOs have double that. VHOs have double that of HOs. Its commonly used in store signs.
Phillips ballats are made by Advanced Transformers (which is why they look so similar).
To answer....
1. No. A single 8 foot lamp would take 110W. If you shorten it to 4 foot, it will reduce or increase the power delivered to the lamp. Its uncertain since it depends on how the ballast is constructed. One thing to note is that using this ballast on shorter lamps does reduce the life of the bulb. However, this is not usually a problem in our tanks since we replace the bulb before the bulb completely burns out.
2. Yes.
3. No and maybe. I would not recommend putting the bulbs in parallel (its a safety thing). However, you may be able to make it work by putting in series but there are no guarantees.
4. Normal end caps can be used. Official and standard HO bulbs usually have a different end cap but we don't use those bulbs in aquariums.
- Victor.
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