Which ballast is the ICE Cap of MH world

enomadra

enomadra

Member
I am looking into upgrading my current lighting from PC to MH with VHO for my Actinic lighting. I am thinking of runing one 250w MH in a 10K then two 95 watt Super Actinic VHO.
My question is what ballast is the ICE CAP of the MH world, meaning which one is the best, the least power consumption, least heat, most reliable. I know if I were asking the question on which ballast to get for my PC lighting I would get 90% reply's saying get an ICE CAP. So I guess I just want to know the best for MH.
Thanks,
:D
 
gmen

gmen

Member
the ic mh is a good ballast but has had some problems firing bulbs. I dont know of any problems with the ARO ballast..Just IME and IMO
if you didnt want electronic ballast and wanted to save upfront cost a basic m57 or m58 would work for se bulbs. Or you can spend a little more and go with a PFO setup.....many choices out there
 
nas19320

nas19320

Active Member
The new IC MH ballast will fire every bulb within thier power range. So a 250 w electronic IC ballast will fire every 250 w bulb DE or SE. The only only problem that they have is when firing the XM bulbs. At the time the ballast was made XM's were not on the market. An electronic ballast will save on electricity and give off less heat.
 
S

silencer

Guest
On ---- they have the icecap 175w for about $107 and the 250w for $119. With google I have found something interesting though. PFO has a non-electronic -triple- 175w ballast for only $200 (if not less, I can't find it at many place). Is something like that good?
For example if I had a 125g tank I would need 3x MH bulbs. Which ones though? If I did 3x 250w with 12k bulbs would I even need any other bulbs? Perhaps even 3x 175w 12k bulbs is enough? I do not understand how you simulate a day/night cycle with dusk/dawn though. Perhaps I need other bulbs regardless to have a proper light cycle? How does this work?
If I did need extra bulbs like VHO anyways, than my gut feeling is that it would be best to get the triple ballast and run 3x 175w 10k or 12k bulbs and use the extra money to buy a better VHO ballast with bulbs. I really don't know. Can somebody explain this a little?
 
S

silencer

Guest
I haven't really decided actually. I think most of my stuff will be low or medium light but I'd like to have a setup that has a little extra in case I do want to support some high requirement items. It's a lot cheaper and effective to get a little more than I need now than to have to replace it all in a year in order to support things I hadn't originally considered.
Of course I don't want or need overkill. I don't want to burn anything with too much light or waste money on something I don't need. Most of the stuff I've looked at is LPS coral but I'm also interested in some SPS corals like purple/blue/neon acropora. I'd also like to have some plants like shaving brush, some anemone and possibly some clams. I realize I can't have some of this stuff together but that's why I want a setup that will be ok for anything, that way nomatter what I decide to house I will be able to support it.
 
enomadra

enomadra

Member
WOW! :eek: First let me say thank you to everyone for all the great info, you guys never fail me.

To answer some of the questions, I want to run electronic ballast, and I would be replaceing my current PC lighting. I am currently keeping:Frogspwan, Goniopora, Plate Coral, Hammer Coral, Open Brain, Mushrooms, Zoo's, star polyps, White Sebae Anemone, and a Sea Pen.
I would like to add a clam and give better light for my Anemone. All the information you guy's have giving me is great I think I am going to go with the ICE CAP ballast I alread have the ICE CAP 430 so I will use that one to power the 03 lights and buy a 250w kit with everything I need to do the MH.
Thanks again....
 
enomadra

enomadra

Member
Now does anyone know of a web site that has pictures of the different light spectrums on the same tank with MH bulbs? I will be going with a mogul socket stlye unless their is any reason why I should not? I was thinking of using the 10,000K spectrum then have two 95 watt 46.5" Actinic 03's but I would like to see the different looks that different MH bulbs give off.
 
S

silencer

Guest
Indeed those pictures are really helpful. It would be nice to know what wattage and kelvin the bulbs are though, and if there were any other bulbs like actinics running (I assume not but you never know).
 
enomadra

enomadra

Member
Now after looking at all the pictures and information I am thinking I will go with 2 - 250watt MH lights (tank is 48" long, plus I will be able to use them when I go to lager tank). I was thinking of going with 10000K Hamilton + 20000K Coralife. With this combo am I covered for the whole spectrum or do I still need Actinic 03 lighting?:thinking:
 
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