[acerhigh]

Hi,

I just picked up a 40 gallon corner tank. There isn't much room on the glass top for lights..... 24" - 30" ( 30" would have to be hung above for sure) I really don't want to go MH. What are my best options.... I was looking at the icecap 440 or 660 and then thinking I could put 3 24" 75W VHO bulbs in it..... that would give me a little over 5.5 watts per gallon. Does either the 440 or 660 give me the abiltity to turn bulbs on independantly of each other, or do I need separate ballasts to do that?

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[skylergirl]

I think the newer 660 have a dimming capability, but you'll need separate ballast to control lights for dawn/dusk effect.

What are the dimensions of the tank?

 

[canisson]

Couldn't you run seperate swithes for each set of wires going to each bulb? That way, when the ballast is turned "on", you could control each set of bulbs by it's own switch.( 2 regular, one actinic for day/dusk effects?) I am not an electrician, but I don't see why this couldn't work....maybe Skippy or another site electrician can pipe in on this one.

 

[Jimbob]

No switches, when the IceCap comes on, all of the bulbs that are wired on it must be on at the same time in order for the circuit to complete, otherwise the ballast will turn back off (built in safety protection for the ballast).

If you get an IceCap 660, you can buy a solar dimmer if you like which will create dusk/dawn effect, cloudy day effects, high noon effect, etc. This eliminates the need for an extra ballast, however you will have to buiy the solar dimmer. The only solar dimmers approved by IceCap are found here:
http://www.championlighting.com/e/e...ng.html?link=/Products/Controllers/solar.html

If you do not want to buy the dimmer, you will need to buy an extra ballast and have one ballast control your actinics and one bvallast control your daylight bulbs to get your dusk dawn effect.