Ebay T5HO Pro light fixture?

[jphendren]

Anybody here have one of these T5HO fixtures?

48" T5HO Pro Aquarium Light Cichlid T5 Reef Lighting - eBay (item 230553934327 end time Nov-29-10 10:51:55 PST)

It seems quite feature packed for the price. I went through the feedback and nearly everyone who purchased the light said it was good. What do you guys think?

Jared

[mfdrookie516]

I'd be cautious. It makes no mention of a warranty, except that it does note that the 'free' stuff is not covered under one. That always throws a red flag up to me. Maybe somebody here has one? I've not seen any posts recently talking about them though. Personally, I wouldn't get it for myself, but I'm the kind of person who prefers products who people have used that I can trust (ie here).

[jphendren]

I contacted the seller, there is a 30 day warranty, but as mentioned above, it does not include the T5 bulbs, the LED bulbs, nor the mounting brackets. I have been unable to find anybody with one of these fixtures, but if you look at the sellers feedback, he has quite a few happy buyers of this light.

This fixture is quite feature packed, the only other fixture I can find with all of the same features is the AquaticLife, and it runs $369.99. Not many T5 fixtures have a built in digital timer, which is neat, as well as the LED moonlight bulbs.

Jared

[the_fish_man]

I know one that has moonlight individual reflectors and 4 lights for $150 it adds up to 250 watts dont know if that is what you want though

[jphendren]

Sure, sounds interesting, who sells it?

I am curious, my tanks is a 55 FOWLR, do I need all of this stuff? Would a Coralife dual 48" T5 standard work with one 10,000K bulb, and one actinic?

Jared

[ezy33]

"name Brand" If it is truly a name brand then why not name it in the add?

[the_fish_man]

Well I need to look at my emails to find the seller again but i had great service with her but the light is a Catalina Aquarium Solar T5HO 4x54 fixture look it up and see if it would work.

[ChizerBunoi]

Don't buy that light. Check out this fixture instead. The fishneedit company has been around for a while and many people have good success.

Catalina is also a really company with good quality.

[cmor1701d]

Beware of anyone shipping a unit with the bulbs installed but not guaranteed. Bulbs often break in shipping. It took 3 units from Drs. Foster and Smith and then only because I insisted they send the bulbs seperately instead of installing them first. The Drs. picked up the shipping cost both ways each time. They did not want me to clean up the broken bulbs and insisted I send the entire fixture back at their expense (TWICE).

Often in this hobby you do get what you pay for.

[mr_X]

it doesn't list if it's UL listed or not, and if they didn't list that in their description, it's probably not.
these fixtures have the potential to cause fires.
these fixtures use sub standard components, including ballasts, and lamps.

i purchased a halide fixture from one of these guys for a very good price a few years ago, and though it was nice looking, the ballast and bulb was junk. i changed out the bulb with a high quality one, and it barely pushed various 250 watt high end lamps enough to sustain zoanthids. the PAR was terrible.

if you want an affordable T-5 fixture and you don't care about the frills, buy one from a hydroponics site. they always use good ballasts that push the lamps. they sell the fixtures by lumens, which is how reef fixtures should be sold. just beware the dimensions- they generally use wide reflectors to push more light.
Sun Blaze 216W 6500K 20000 Lumens 4FT T5 Fluorescent Grow Light - Plantlighting Hydroponics

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion.

[Laurence]

Beware of anything advertised on eBay! You don't know how old the item is, or how it has been treated. Was the unit damaged in the past? Is there a guarantee with the unit? How many times has it been shipped and banged around? Your best bet when buying ANY kind of equipment is to buy new items from a reputable dealer, such as Marine Depot, to ensure that you are receiving good merchandise. No, I don't own stock in Marine Depot, but I have ordered many items from them in the past and the service was always prompt and the items of good quality.