I know Arca Swiss stuff is expensive, but im open to recommendations to the same type of system.
Well my fiancée and I used to be all Manfrotto in our house, but after a couple near catastrophes related to the Manfrotto QD system failing on us, we switched everything over to Arca-Swiss. Just my opinion, and I still love my Manfrotto tripod, but I much prefer the Arca-Swiss attachment system over Manfrotto's. Also, Arca-Swiss is a brand, and yeah, their stuff can be pricey, but Arca-Swiss
compatibility does not have to be expensive. Many, many ball-heads (assuming that's what you're looking for) on the market are 100% Arca-Swiss compatible and won't break the bank.
Just beware: Arca-Swiss
STYLE does not always mean Arca-Swiss
COMPATIBLE. Some manufacturers will say a tripod head is "Arca-Swiss style", or words to that effect. This usually means the item operates in a similar fashion but does use the same
design specifications as Arca-Swiss; which means it is NOT Arca-Swiss compatible and you definitely want Arca-Swiss compatible stuff. Arca-Swiss uses very specific design elements, such as specific angles and depth of certain cuts, the width of the QD plate, etc. I learned this lesson the hard/expensive way, so I urge you to learn from my mistakes.
If you need specific recommendations for an Arca-Swiss compatible ball-head for your existing Manfrotto tripod, I'm sure we can all help with that. Knowing your budget would be helpful because ball-heads run the gamut when it comes to price.