Whats used to power VHO bulbs?

[Electrobes]

Yo everyone, I am about to get lighting for my aquarium and am almost done selescting everything, but I am missing the ballast to power VHO actinics. I want to get two 24 inch (75 watt) VHO 03 actinics, but I don't know which ballast would power it. thanks!

[reefrunner69]

IceCap 430 would power them and more, I believe.

[captivereefs]

yep an ice cap will do the trick!

[captivereefs]

You could als go with an Icecap A4 ballast. Just as nice but a little cheaper!

[justDIY]

you can also look around locally for a 'plastic sign ballast', sylvanic makes a few as does Advance transformer.

the one I saw was for running 4 to 32 feet of bulbs, it had a LOT of wires off of it, very similar to the icecap. no idea if they're any cheaper than an icecap, but its worth a shot.

[Electrobes]

cool thanks everyone

[loganj]

I remember hearing or reading somewhere that a Fulham workhorse would light a VHO. I'm not sure about that as I've never tried it. It might be something to look into though. The Icecap 430 will certainly do the job though. I've had pretty good luck with Icecap ballasts so far...I've sent two back for repair and they are both still working fine. Unless I'm mistaken, the A4 ballast is a potted ballast and therefore isn't repairable like the 430 and 660's are. It will run up to 440 watts though.

[justDIY]

the fulham isn't too good at running T12 vho's ... at best, the 220 watt WH 7 can only run a single bulb regardless of the wattage.

This is due to the fact the fulham cannot deliver the proper current to more than one bulb, which regardless of wattage is always 1.5 amps for a standard VHO ... the maximum current available from the WH7 is 1.8 amps.

smaller diameter bulbs like the T8 through T4 take less current because of a more efficient arc chamber, smaller diameter = less power wasted.