250 watt MH from Fish Need It review

[Privateer]

Well I bought one of these to put over my 56 column, and thought I'd let you all know what I thought. The light came with a 20k hqi bulb, an electronic ballast , legs, hanging cables and hardware. The light looks well made and put together well, but it feels light weight. The legs suck. They would probably work on a rimless tank , but they will not work on a tank with a rim. The hanging cables look ok. Now the main question....how does it work? Well its bright, and the 20 K bulb has a nice crisp blue color. The light does put out a lot of heat. My corals seem to like it.

 

For $150.00 bucks I like it. I have another on the way. Heres are some pics.

 

 

 

 

 

[fishieCJ]

You said the mounting legs sucked. So what legs are u using instead?

[nanoreefnate]

You said the mounting legs sucked. So what legs are u using instead?

clearly, from the pix, he reinforced the legs that came with the light by adding support beams on the front.

[gregzbobo]

clearly, from the pix, he reinforced the legs that came with the light by adding support beams on the front.

I wonder if the tightening screws on the "feet" are plastic, and if so if the lower portion of the legs could be detached from the upper, rotated 180 degrees, and reattached so the screws und up inside the tank under the rim-lip, allowing one to tighten it down to the inner glass of the tank, making it more secure.

[jokercykoe]

Nice. I went with the 70w hqi for my 12" cube. I like it too. Should have gone with the 20k though. I went with the 14k instead.

 

I also don't like the legs so I hung it up. Looks much better.

[kookie_guy]

I just got the 36" combo set...2x150watt hqi and 2x double bulb T5HOs. Like said, it is a nice looking setup. It arrived packaged very well.

 

However, the combo does not come assembled. You get all the modules and hardware, and you gotta assemble it all together. Doing so was a huge pain in the rear. The brackets that are supposed to slide into the MH module are VERY difficult to get in there. Once in, they slide easy, but getting them there is not fun.

 

When you go to slide the T5HO modules into the brackets, the brackets are tight, and unless you put something between it and the housing, you are going to scratch the hell out of the aluminum (found out the hard way).

 

I got 2 sets of mounting legs. One set is the one pictured, which goes into the MH module. They are not bad, but you can't use them with the T5HO modules, which renders them useless. The other brackets that came with it would hook onto the T5HO modules. These would work for the combo assembly, however, they will not fit over the edge of a tank that has bracing on it. They will slip over glass under 1/2" thick, but add bracing, and again, they are useless.

 

The hanging hardware is pretty nice.

 

All in all, for the price, you can't go wrong, when comparable units are WAY more money. The quality is nice, and light output is good too.

[Llamaguy]

I wonder if the tightening screws on the "feet" are plastic, and if so if the lower portion of the legs could be detached from the upper, rotated 180 degrees, and reattached so the screws und up inside the tank under the rim-lip, allowing one to tighten it down to the inner glass of the tank, making it more secure.

 

I think that's probably how they were intended. That would be consistent with how the Coralife MH is as well.

[steviejitsu]

How long are the hanging kits?

[AdrianBryce]

I ordered on of the combo setups too. scratched all to hell in assembly. also the plastic on the side of the mh melted after warped after 2 days use. They took it back and paid me my shipping costs back. Great Customer Service, Crap Product. JMO

 

How long are the hanging kits?

[ryno920]

I bought the 150 watt model about two months back and so far I've really liked it. Like everyone else, my only complaint would be the legs to mount in to the tank.

 

One question I have though, if I want to change bulbs, how do I get at the bulb that's inside? It doesn't seem like there is any way to slide the glass off to get at the bulb.

[addam4208283]

any other reviews on these lights? i noticed that quite a few people have been tlaking about them over the past couple months. i was thinking about getting one for when i start up the tank again. maybe buy a couple for a bigger future tank cause the price is really good.

adam

[Kittysnax]

quoted from one of my other blogs

 

Honestly the fixture itself seems a bit flimsy, but I have heard nothing but good things about the company so I'd rather spend a tiny bit more than the Odessea (which has had reports of fires over and over again) and get decent quality. Putting the 3 fixtures together is a PITA, but once you figure it out, its not that bad. It is just very wide front to back, hence why I decided on putting them on seperatly later instead of hooked together. It also came with legs as well as ceiling mounts, which seem to be strong quality. I just cant hang it right now >.< Turning it on and off is kinda tricky as sometimes you have to flip the ballast switch twice or so for it to flicker and heat up. Not a deal breaker for me though. The ballast seems to keep a decent temperature as well. It gets warm, but I can handle it with my bare hands. I still wouldnt run it when Im not home for a long time though, just for the possibilty youd have with any high wattage device. All in all I would say it is worth it. A Halide fixture is a Halide fixture to me, it all depends on what you put inside it(bulb). As long as it doesnt have a tendency to burn the house down, Ill give it a try.

 

I LOVE the spectrum of the 20k stock bulb, but will probably go with a Phoenix 14k DE MH bulb when time comes to change it. Im a blue junkie and would prefer color over growth so I want to stick with a heavy/moderate blue spectrum. I dont want a tank that will become overgrown in a year, cause frankly, I have no idea when the time/money will come for us to move back out of the parents house and I dont want to stress a huge number of livestock out during a move LOL!!!!!! Also the T5HO "blue bulbs" that you get with the stock fixture arent true actinics as Ive seen. they are basically just blue bulbs. Which is fine cause for the price, I wasnt really payin for the bulbs LOL.

 

pics can be found on my thread here in my siggy

[jarred1]

i have a t5 fixture and it works great the only problem is with the legs, they dont fit around the rim so you cant screw them on to the side of the tank. other than that i think its a great product!

[kev24k]

I've had the 250watt 20k mh fixture for a week now. Its a great little unit. If they were to include some decent legs on this thing, it would be an even better deal. I have it setup right now on a 57 column and the tank is well lit. The legs are STRETCHED. I really wish they had better legs for this thing. Would have been PERFECT.