If i was to go out and buy an icecap ballast. How much work/material extra woudl i have to buy so that it woudl work for me?
Well its pretty simple...
The line from the hood to old ballast. Cut the line 2" from the ballast so you can connect it in teh future if you are selling it..Keep the old ballast for resale reasons.
Now mount the icecap in a ventilated spot ...have drip loops in place.. connect the wires according to the the diagram...which should show only 3 lines. White black green... Green is not used unless you have a grounding source for it...like a grounding rod...but who has one of those next to a fish tank? Im not electrician but I imagine some go the extra mile and connect that to a solid grounding source within ones walls. No thanks on messing with wall fishing and or sheet rock here =p
Mine are just simply connected with the white and black...and thats it...with ballast connected to a surge protector. Thats about it.
Food for thought: Ok the 48" Odyssea hood is roughly 340 bucks retail ..havnt checked lately but thats the last price i know of. Adding another ballast thats an additional 150 bucks. New MH bulb 100.00.. Two new PC bulbs for 96watts type 150 for the total.
We are already going near 740 bucks without the tax in the long run here.
Just to give you a ballpark idea on building your own my recent build of a canopy and suggested to some others:
Birch Wood: Solid, seals well, doesnt warp easy 40-50 bucks a sheet.
Mylar reflective material for indoor gardening (found at those stores to) 19.99 a roll
Two reflectors 60.00 for both
TWo mogul bulb end caps 30 for both.
Two Mogul bulbs ..I bought Hamilton 14k bulbs at 60 each..(sale day) they are normally 100 each..(200 total)
Two Ballasts Ice cap on average is 150.00..coralvu slightly cheaper... so two of them thats (300 total).
On the low side 660 dollars without tax..depending on pricing you find..we can say between 700-800 ballpark.
The differences between my build and going Odyssea
With modifications you have ONE 250 MH...those PC bulbs (which are not best for lps sps coral tanks) more like supplements the Mh on the oddysea hood.
The hood I built: 500w but all MH only two bulbs. Entire hood insides is a mirror...so light loss is cut down and it increases my light going downward. Plus having a nice Birch canopy stained walnut 5 coats looks pretty nice.
PS: If i ever get a wild hair up my bumm I could always add another MH bulb to...but that would mean I need a chiller or have a Fish tank turn into a boiling pot. =p
PSS: I did not build that canopy in a day. It took me a few months of price shopping and of course im lazy. But the pay off for taking my time...finding deals...I have a kick *** tank lighting and nice hood. Ill have to get off my arse and take pics just to show yah sometime. It seems like a big pain..But even for lazy guy like me I had a lot of fun building the thing. And I am glad I did.
