IceCap 660 for only 2 bulbs ?

[mkarston]

OK, I need your help here. Is it possible to use an IceCap 660 for only 2 110w VHO bulbs?

My situation is this:
I have an IceCap 660 ballast running 4 110w VHO bulbs now on my 90 gal tank. I want to upgrade to 2 150/175W MH, and keep my IceCap 660 ballast to run 2 blue 110w VHO bulbs.
1. Is it possible to wire this ballast the way I need to?
2. Any advice in general to do this upgrade the most economically?

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

Craig

 

[chrisaggie]

Craig, it is easy to switch over your ballast to run 2 bulbs. Just follow the wiring diagram here.

 

[mkarston]

awsome! Thanks, thats exactly what I was looking for.

The other thing I was looking for an opinion on was the best “bang-4-your-buck” ballast to run to 2 150/175W MHs.

Thanks again,

Craig

 

[jman77]

Are these going to be SE's or DE's ?

For DE's i would get these and wire them yourself

http://reefgeek.com/products/categories/lighting/10265.html

Now there are new SE 14's that came out that have hudge amount of par...so if you go SE's I would go with something like these to fire them
http://www.1000bulbs.com/products.php?cat=175-Watt-Metal-Halide-Ballast

Don't get scared of the DIY route...it's very simple. I can post a DIY for getting all the parts you need to make the MH enclosure at HomeDepot on monday. FIY i had SE's before and tried the DE's and have not been too impressed with them. If I had to do over i would have go SE's .

You made a good choice going Icecap. I have a 660 that is over 10 years old and i have thrown all kinds of stuff at it and it's worked out like a champ. I used it for a long time to run 2 VHO Actinics that ran along with the new German 10k 175w SE's that where coming into the states( about 10 years ago, lol) The nice thing about the 660 is you can add more bulbs later on ...

 

[mkarston]

HelloLights

HelloLights

I just stumbled upon this:
http://www.hellolights.com/48buityoreki.html

The MH Ballast here are $45 ea. plus the cords, connectors, bulbs, etc... you can put it all together.

What do you guys thing? Has anyone used them before, do you know if they assemble it all for you?

Eitherway, it seems like a good price for a complete kit.

Craig

 

[Ludwigia73]

I personally don't like the reflector there at all. If you're going to buy halides, go most of the way and get spider reflectors. All the way (at considerably more expense) would be those crazy parabolic reflectors (Luminarc).

 

[Bullredchaser]

IMO on a 24" tall tank I wouldn't waste my time with anything less than a 250 Mh bulb.Unless you where going with T5's using your 660 ballast as that will give the same PAR as the 250's at 24" deep.Then you could go with 150/175s for the shimmer effect and still get high PAR with the T5s overdriven.

 

[chrisaggie]

Robert, what's your source for that PAR information?

 

[Bullredchaser]

Ask and you shall recieve,here you go Chris. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=724967