MH ballast setup questions?

[nerdo]

A friend of mine found an electronic MH ballast for one 175w bulb made be sylvania for 62 bucks and I was wondering if there is any difference between something like that and the Icecaps? Can I use it? I hate to spend over 150 bucks for a stupid ballast. And where is the cheapest place to get a reflector and mogul setup for 1x175w? I heard somebody mention buying one of those garage flood lights and gutting it for the internal stuff...anybody done this before? I just can't see spending 100's of dollars to run one 175 watter for my 29gallon. Not trying to be ghetto but effecient! Thanks...Kevin

[AnnArborBuck]

The sylvania ballast can probably only fire specific bulbs, where as the icecap can fire just about anything (pulse or probe). I am not the expert on this so don't take my advice.


As far as cheap moguls and what not, if you are not affraid of used stuff you can try http://www.policeauctions.com or http://www.stealitback.com . The same type of equipment we use for our tanks are used for growing certain illegal plants that are confiscated during drug raids.

[Geoff]

what AnnArborBuck said.

when one of my 400w electronic ballasts went out on my i happened on 400w ballast at HD for $29! this was obviously a tar ballast, but since it is in my crawlspace i did not care how warm it would get. this was a streetlight that was designed to be mounted on the side of a building. it included a cast metal case, lense, bulb, and ballasts. i only used the case and the ballast.

as long as you stick with american bulbs you will be fine. i have used iwasaki's (these fire on both types of ballasts, Coralvue's, and my favorite XM 10K's with this ballast. have not had any problems.

G~

[nerdo]

which brands of bulbs specifically should I look for?

[Geoff]

Originally Posted by nerdo

which brands of bulbs specifically should I look for?

i listed 2 of the most common bulbs out there. Coralvues are fairly new, and i was not happy with their reliability. they are known for this.

G~

[nerdo]

Thanks a lot for your help...Kevin

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by nerdo

I hate to spend over 150 bucks for a stupid ballast.

A 175W IceCap ballast is right around $100, not as cheap as the alternative you found, but not as bad as $150.

[wanareef]

If I were you, I'd spend the $$ up front to get an electronic ballast.

1. These use a little less electricity, electronic
2. Will fire any bulb
3. Eaiser to re-sell when you need too.
4. When changing bulbs - no need to change the ballast
5. Upgradeable - for that next bigger tank (talking about 250w ballast)

just my .002