MH ballast opinions

[So Cal shaggy]

Well, I have finally decided to set up a prop tank and frag some of my larger corals to make some room for new pieces. I have all of the equipment except a ballast for the light. Can I get some opinions good and bad from all of you regarding the different brands. Right now I have two separate ballasts on my display tank a 175 watt coralife and a 175 watt Blue wave both of these ballasts have worked great for me but I am wondering if there are some out there that might have advantages that I am missing out on. I really like the blue wave ballast for a couple of reasons first is that it has it's own built in timer and second is that it has an outlet so if you need to you can plug an item into it.

Thanks,

 

[drake66]

i'd go with a icecap 250, pretty small for the juice it pumps out.

 

[So Cal shaggy]

I had an icecap with my VHO strips 4 years ago and had to get a replacement ballast every year due to it's burning out Icecap was very good about replacing it but the inconvience of not having my normal light for a couple of days was trying on my patience so I am wary of icecap

 

[Kenfuzed]

Depends on the depth, size, and types of frags you plan on keeping. The biggest drawback when lighting a prop tank is the use of a single light which doesn't allow for color supplementation.

I'm using a 250w MH over my prop tank to have enough total par.

 

[So Cal shaggy]

Thank you Ken, but I am looking for experiences with brands of ballasts I already have all the equipment I need except the MH ballast to power my lights

 

[drake66]

those M80 ballasts are like bullets, they run any bulb really good.
M80 + BLV 10k bulb = awesome results, as I read it on a article a few days ago.

 

[Kenfuzed]

When it comes to brand/type it all depends on the brand of bulb. Some bulbs run better on magnetic ballasts, while others run better on a electronic ballast.

I personally like the EVC and IceCap ballasts because they are compact, cool running, and on many bulbs produce great outputs.

 

[drake66]

whats EVC and what temp rating is it? DE/SE?

 

[Kenfuzed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6922607#post6922607 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drake66
whats EVC and what temp rating is it? DE/SE?

EVC Tech ballasts sold by Ocean Encounter. They are an electronic ballast similar to CV and Bluewave and often have a better output than IceCaps. I believe Sanjay has used a few to review some recent bulbs on his site. The other nice thing about these ballasts is they come in a small aluminum heatsink enclosure.

http://oceanencounter.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=OE&Category_Code=EVCEB

This is the only place I've found them for sale, so maybe they are the exclusive distributor.