IceCap and Blue life vs. Odyssea

Open that odessea box up and you will find a iron core 15.00 transformer made in China . On the other had I bet the 45.00 Magnetec or Advance iron core will look as good as the Ice crap..I run the Advance 400 watt Iron cores and Its not because I have to ..3 for 130.00 and I have had them beside several of the electronic and there is not a difference at all . At the shop I put in 6 and they burn the bulbs as well as the electronic setting right next to them . And with the proper capacitor a Iron core will light any makers buld be it mogul or HQI ..

 

I'm sure it can be boosted up but I'm a long way from convinced that it will be as energy efficient, bright and durable.

 

can you tell me what you had to do when you changed from the odyessa ballast to ice cap ballest. Did you have to do any wiring.

Thank you Boldie

 

No wiring... hehe I asked the same question here a couple weeks ago.
It plugs right in. This is the type of cord that it takes and I just ordered two cords because the icecap only has a 1' long section on the side that needs to be long.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=140308945477

 

Hmmm, that link looks firmilar. LOL... How's the new ballast & bulbs working buddy.. I just hung my fixture yesterday. I had to make custom stainless steel hardware for it. Looks pretty darn good too..

 

Yeah... you get credit for the wire... lol. It actually took me a while to re-find your post. It's all working great... my lava chalice got burnt though. I'm having a hard time finding a place far enough away from the lights and still be able to see it. The lights were a bit much for it..The good thing is though my Monti and other SPS are loving it.

 

I know what your saying. The IceCap ballast( or any other than Odyssea ballast) you will see the difference. My Toadstool and Finger coral have started going down hill and my Candy Canes have turned almost white ever since I installed the SPS 14k bulb with the IceCaps. The combination of the two might just be too bright/powerful for those corals. I justed received a pair of 20k bulbs to see if those corals come back to life. Keep us posted on how your corals do with the new equipment. luna

 

Interesting... When I swapped out my Odyssea ballasts for Blueline eballasts (got a WICKED deal on them - $100 each), my favia/favites (not sure which) seemed overpowered by the increased lighting levels too (14K bulbs). I went to 20K bulbs and moved it to a more shaded area and it has bounced back nicely.

My Toadstool and Candycanes have not been adversely affected by the increased lighting though... In fact, they both began to grow much better.

Z

 

Any other ballast is going to be superior to the Odyssea ballast because the Odyssea ballast has been proven to under drive the bulbs by only delivery about 150watts to a 250 bulb.

 

yep if you have oddysea lights you are actually 150 -160 watts and that's why higher end bulbs won't fire by them.