Which would you choose?

[MarkS]

OK, I am going to set up my 55 as a FOWLR in a couple of weeks. My mother actually wants me to set this up and she is getting a very big settlement check from SSI in about five days so money is not a problem. She will be paying for most of the stuff.

I want to go with VHO's. The tank will be set up in our livingroom and we have a 25000BTU air conditioner. Even with a monster AC, the room does not get very cool. This means that metal halide is out.

I am leaning towards the IceCap 4 bulb retro with two actinics and two 50/50's.

Reefland has the IceCap 4x46.5 bulb retro for $325 and with shipping it comes out to $336. Premium Aquatics has the retro for $331 + shipping, so I will go with Reefland.

However, Reefland also has the Lamps Now 4 bulb retro for $139 - bulbs. With the bulbs, the price will be $229 + shipping.

What I want to know is if you would pay the $100 difference for the IcaCap? From everything that I read, this is what I would do. However, I do not know much about the Lamps Now retro and maybe it is better.

Any help will be appericiated.

Thanks,
Mark

[Bubafat]

I would definitly go with the Icecap. It is the most versitile florecent ballast made. NO's, HO, VHO, PC...it can run them all in any combination.

Spend the extra dollars, it is worth it.

I also wouldn't go with the combination you have. I say this as you will get better results with 2 actinics and 2 aquasun.

You may want to reconsider halides, they really don't create much more heat then 2x 175w halides.

Buba

[MarkS]

What's the difference between the 50/50 and Aquasun?

Also, MH's are out of the question. I would love them, but it is not my money.

Mark

[ridetheducati]

Have you considered the DIY 250 watt MH?

$100

[Ninong]

Originally posted by MarkS
What's the difference between the 50/50 and Aquasun?

According to URI, the Aquasun is 10,000K and the Actinic White (50/50) is 12,000K. These are the new and improved numbers created by their marketing department a couple of years ago.

Ninong

[chromis]

there is no good reason to spend $336 on VHOs when you can get a iwasaki retro kit for $335 off reefland or premium aquatics. I would really reconsider as they are basically the same price OF course if heat is a major problem then....

HTH
Andrew

[Green Mariner]

My personal preference is for IceCap, with the IC you can save on energy costs as well as bulbs, you can run GE ultra Daylight bulbs which cost about $5 at HD. Let's not forget that IC produces a very small amount of heat not like other ballasts, you did mention heat was a concern!! Besides that Their customer service is the best!! I have one of the IC MH ballasts and it is my favorite, it produces very little heat!
BTW, www.oceanencounter.com has the IC retro kit for $325 with free shipping.

HTH

[MarkS]

Well, Reefland has this. That is a pretty good price for a dual MH retro. However, the bulbs are 65K and I would need actinic supplementation. I like the blue look. It would be better in the long run to go with MH, but in this case I would have to buy two different lighting systems.

This would definitely be the most expensive route.

I told her $300 for the lighting. Anything above that has to come from me.

Mark

[MarkS]

OK, I decided what I am going to get. Thanks everyone for your input.

I am going with the IceCap VHO retro with 2 actinic, one 50/50 and one AquaSun from Reefland.

I would be the first to recommend MH, but in my case it is not for me. If I had a bigger tank or was planning on keeping a full reef or SPS, then I would definitely go with MH.

Mark