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Any thoughts on this lighting solution?

Edwardw771

Edwardw771

NJRC Member
Re: Any thoughts on this eBay lighting solution?

You have a 55 gallon right? 400 Watts over a 55 is a little over kill I would say. It looks like a good price. but what kind of warrenty comes with it. If it blows up what do you do?
 
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Subliminal

NJRC Member
Re: Any thoughts on this eBay lighting solution?

I would guess I would probably have to call the fire department and find a new place to live.

Good point. ;)

I'm basically just trying to find some decent lighting for ~$100. Could be a little more, could be a little less. Just not sure of what to get yet.

I've seen some pros/cons of MH, T5 and CF.

Just not sure what I want. :(

Hell, I think I need more lighting than i have to even get some nice purply going on on my rock.
 
Edwardw771

Edwardw771

NJRC Member
Re: Any thoughts on this eBay lighting solution?

Your still invited to come by and look at my set up.

I have 2 250 Watt MH and 2 t5s over my 90. 4 T5's over my 55 and 4 over my frag tank. That will give you an idea of what they look like.
 
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debfife

Re: Any thoughts on this eBay lighting solution?

Lights from Ebay make me nervous. We had a bad experience once with a T5 fixture (not from the same seller). It was smoking about 1 month after we got it. Thank goodness we were down there and smelled burning. Of course the seller fell off the face of the earth by this point in time so we were stuck.
 
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Subliminal

NJRC Member
Re: Any thoughts on this eBay lighting solution?

Yeah, thanks Ed...I'd like that. Not too many people around me have nice setups, and other than the pet store and pictures from online, I haven't seen too many up close either.
 
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Subliminal

NJRC Member
Re: Any thoughts on this eBay lighting solution?

Mott,

Whenever I think of lights, I always think back to the setup you have for sale.

If I was closer, I'd have that baby sitting on my tank right now. ;)
 
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mott768

Re: Any thoughts on this eBay lighting solution?

If you are going to the meeting you can maybe see if someone from my area or passing by could pick it up and bring it to the meeting Sat. If your not going see if someone from your area that is going would bring it to you. Just a thought :) Unfortunately I do not have a ride so I wont be able to go.

If you decide to go the eBay route just check the persons feedback before buying. If they have a lot of negs and frequent ones stay away it's not worth the headache. Especially if you wind up waiting 2-4 weeks for someone to ship or the thing blows up after a month.
 
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Subliminal

NJRC Member
Re: Any thoughts on this eBay lighting solution?

Roger that, Ghost Rider. i won't be at the meeting though, unfortunately. Sounds like a fun shin-dig though.

I'm a 45+ 100% positive feedback ebay user since 2001. Been round the block there, and you're definitely right on about the feedback.

:)
 
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Subliminal

NJRC Member
Well, thanks for the heads up. My tank is acrylic and has no divider.

I can't really afford that solution that you posted either, so I guess I'll just keep my eyes open.

Or pile my rock on one side and put coral over there only. ;)
 
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lithivm

The setup you have shown for $90 from ebay is usually used to grow "plants" at home (you know the other NJreefers club) so I wouldn't trust it for aquarium use.

The bulbs need to be "real" aquarium bulbs..... I spent so much money getting cheaper stuff to hold me over and ended up getting the expensive stuff months later anyway....
 
mfisher2112

mfisher2112

Well, if you are really looking for "on the cheap", I just put one of the 36" versions of these over my 30 gallon temporary tank. I didn't want to put out a bunch of money for a tank that isn't going to stay up long.

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=313

I know alot of people have had bad issues with aquatraders, but I did ok. The price was right, and I got the fixture in perfect condition within a week. They have metal halide fixtures on the cheap too, but I have heard too many horror stories about that brand's metal halide fixtures catching fire. Supposedly that is fixed in the new models, but I dunno if that's a chance I'd take.

The light is fairly bright and seems to penetrate well. It may work for you as a temporary lighting solution until you can retro together some Metal Halides, or stumble across that "awesome deal" we all wait for. ;D

Hello lights has the 250watt electronic MH retro kits on sale for $129 (not counting bulb), so that's an option too.

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

Two of those would cost you about $400 with bulbs.
 
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lithivm

The aquatrader shown is a copy of the corallife which I had and was really good over my old 55G.

The only thing that I can tell you is that the bulbs that come with those aquatraders are really bad.... I ran them side by side with the corallife and they were really dim.
 
mfisher2112

mfisher2112

Good point. I don't really have anything that size to run mine against. Wish I did. They seem pretty bright to me, but even replacing the bulbs would only be about $45 or so on the 48" bulbs from premium aquatics or hello lights.

At any rate, it may be a good place to start. And then, if you build a retro MH kit later or something, you could always use the current fixture (like I'm going to do with my nova extreme fixture) for actinic supllementation. So at least it won't go to waste. ;D
 
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