Blueline E Balast or IceCap for MH??

[Kevin Day]

I'm finally looking to add a halide to my small (50 gallon) system. I'm in the market for a 175W halide, I'll probably go with a 10KK Ushio. The only hang up i'm having here is whether I should buy a blueline e balast or an icecap mh ballast. I've heard good things about both, but only minimal information. I know lots of people have the icecap ballasts and few have the blueline ballast. Is there a reason people shy from blueline? any help anyone could offer would be wonderful in helping me make this decision.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Kendall]

I have had the Blueline for about 3 weeks and no problems. Certainly not enough time to give a reasonable recomendation though. I have, however, heard that the Ice Caps had a problem with flickering. Don't know if it is still an issue or not. Try doing a search.

Good Luck

 

[balberth]

I have been running a 400W Blueline Eballast with Ushio 10k bulb(s) for the past two or three years on my 180 gallon tank. I've been completely satisfied with it - no problems at all. It's both quieter and cooler than my previous conventional ballasts.

I have no experience with the icecap, though their VHO ballasts are great.

All of the electronic ballasts I have used have produced some amount of radio frequency interference, which might be an issue if you listen to a lot of radio or watch tv off an antenna, though this really depends on your particular setup.

You might also want to see:

A good technical comparison at:

http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish/libra ... ordNo=1392

The last time this question came up:

http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=18909

Best of luck!
--Albert

 

[ScottC]

I've been using HelloLights.com electronic 250w MH ballast for 3 months now without a hitch. Thet were $160 each, with a reflector and mogul socket, and enough cord to hang myself with.

http://www.hellolights.com/25methalbalk.html

 

[Leopardshark]

I have a hellolights.com ballast (I think it is LN?? :? ) and 2 icecaps for my 300 gal tank.
When I bought the icecaps I looked for blueline and after reading some studies made by Sanjay and others, I decided for the IC.
What I know now is that the IC runs a little bit cooler than the LN, but both are great ballasts and I don´t have a single complain about any one of them.