Need opinions b4 buying eBay no brand light

[Lance M.]

Well I was looking on eBay for some cheap 24'' fixtures and I came by this one. It's a 4x24 watt t5 from the looks of it in a similar setup like Nova's but a lot cheaper and w/o lunar lights.

I'm wondering if anyone has these or has seen any reviews of these. I can't tell the brand so I don't know how good these are. The light will be for a cheap 24'' tank I'm planning on setting up in my dorm room. It will probably be a 15 gallon so it would be 12'' deep.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-T5ho-t5-ho-...ryZ46314QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I don't want to buy it and have it breakdown in 6 months and be a waste.

TIA

 

[roka64]

Looking at it, it looks like you can replace the bulbs from the top, which seems to make it easier. I don't understand the 2 on/off switches and one power cord. It seems that would defeat the purpose of having the blues come on before and after the whites. One other thing, is there a fan, to keep the heat down....?

 

[cmor1701d]

NO noise

Leads me to believe there are no fans. I also don't see any warranty information. These are things you should ask the seller about before purchasing.

 

[Lance M.]

Great thanks guys. I sent the seller an email asking about the 2 switchs and one power cord, if you replace the lights from the top, if it has a fan, and if it has a warranty. It's only $70 and fro the looks of it I'm guessing it doesn't have a fan. Is the price reasonable for a T-5 fixture? Nova has the same thing but with a fan, two led's, and 4 power cords but it's $100 more.

Edit:

Well I got a reply from the seller and it only has one powercord so I can't set the lights on a timer for dusk/dawn, you replace the lights just like any other fixture (turn it over, remove the splashguard, etc.), it doesn't have a fan but he said he's never had a problem with heat and none of his customers have mentioned anything about the heat (he also said the fixture runs cool enough that you can touch it after it's been running for like 8 hours), and he gives a six month warranty. He also gave me his website, I checked it out it's pretty cool with pictures of customer's tanks and what lighting they use.

www.fishneedit.com/

It looks pretty good. The only draw back I can see is you can't seperate the actinics and daylights on timers to do dusk/dawn but that really isn't a big deal. I think I'm gonna buy one and use it over a 15 gallon I'm gonna set up in a month or two.

 

[roka64]

I have the Nova Extreme one and I'll tell you this. I didn't let the lights/fixture cool off enough, when I switched out the bulbs and one of the end caps cracked, so make sure you give it plenty of time to cool down. before changing out the bulbs.

 

[flanque]

So how did it go? Are these units any good?

 

[Lance M.]

I decided to put it off til at least another month til I can figure out whether or not I want to set up another nano. Then I'll see how much money I have.

 

[ct67_72]

I bought a light from ebay its made by odyssea, its a 24" and it was like 80$ it has 2 65w pcs and moonlights. fans too, its been a great light.

 

[Lance M.]

My neighbor's got an odyssea fixture on his 125 gallon and it works for him but I've heard lots of bad things about odyssea like the fixture catching on fire. Do you remember who the seller was ct67_72 ? I'll check it out.