Aquatraders Metal Halide?

[akayak65]

I know some of you have bought power compacts from Aquatraders.com but was wondering if anyone has purchased the following 17 inch Metal halide fixture (or any of the MH) and been satisfied. Seems like th price is right.

 

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageA...WPROD&ProdID=12

 

This light would be for a 30 gallon Oceanic cube with softies, leathers and zoo's.

 

The other option would be a Current power compact fixture that has 40 watts of PC lighting to go along side my current 80 watt PC fixture.

 

Thanks,

 

Alan

[Pinchy]

spend 79 more dollars and get a 250W aquamedic ocean light- you wont regret it-

 

BUT- if you had to go w/ that one- there was a thread on RC about those products- a bunch of people ordered them, and most came back saying that they were good solid products- but i dont know about longetivity- it worked basically out of the box.

[PRF]

where is a good place to get the 250W aquamedic ocean light?

 

And are they only hanging systems, because the one on hellolights.com is and i dont want a hanging one.

[Pinchy]

they are only hanging; unless you want to go w/ one of those "complete" halide systems where they incorporate actinics w/ the halide- like coralife's HQI aqualight pro, or current usa's new outer orbit- in any case- you'd spend over 400 bucks for somthing decent that has legs.

 

or even better- check out T-5 HO lighting; very intense lights that will do very nicely- but be sure to get a 4-6 bulb unit

 

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/m..._Code=Finnex-T5 -good

 

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/m...Code=SunlightT5 -best

[akayak65]

Hey Pinchy and PRF,

 

The reason I was thinking of going the Odyssea route was because of the legs that you can put the light on. I don't want to have to hang something. Aqua Medic has to be hung or put in a hood.

 

How high above the tank does a MH have to be placed to not have a significant temperature change?

 

Do T-5's have higher output than power compacts?

 

Coralife is coming out with a new clamp on set up but it's going to be $260 +.

[Bikelock]

Those T5 fixtures do not look like they have individual reflectors. For T5 lights to give out the most par you need individual reflectors like the sls tek lights have. Check out www.reefgeek.com for good T5 fixtures.

[Pinchy]

yes bikelock is correct about the fixtures-reflectors are an extremely important aspect of t-5 lighting; but to answer your question akayak- t-5 HO's put out MORE lumens than ANY light out in the market- EVEN more than MH. about 92lumens/watt. Powercompacts are very weak in comparison

 

if you went MH route- you must give at least 5-6 clearance from the tank's surface.

[WREKDYVR]

akayak65, You and I are setting up the exact same tank. I was also considering the Odyssea 175 mh from aquatraders. If you decide to go with it, let me know what you think.

[mattgreene22]

ditto WREKDYVR !

 

I'm also setting up a 30g cube. I'm still working on other details, but I bought a 96w Coralife Aqualight for lighting. I was already a little unsettled....but this thread definitely has me second-guessing that decision.

 

Not to jack a thread...but any advice on how to augment my pc fixture with the remaining room above? I think I've got like 20 x 8 inches left.

[Bikelock]

30g cube seems the popular light for those is a DE 250watt MH

[Pinchy]

yes- the 250W DE will look fantastic over a 30 cube- ive seen one in person- it was an aquamedic oceanlight- 10k AB bulb- looked superb! instant sun! ta da!

[jaykay]

I just received my 175watt HQI from aquatraders today. It works as advertised. This is my first MH setup, so I don't have any comparison for it. For $149, I had to try it out. However, I'm having all kinds of problems trying to figure out the leg installation. The package it came in wasn't the best, and it does NOT come with instructions, or any kind of paperwork at all. Kind of shady, but I guess you get what you pay for. Awesome light though, no complaints about that.

[mattgreene22]

jaykay

 

keep us posted. Once you figure out how to set it up...take some pics while doing so. That way...you'll be the user's manual.

 

Also, what size tank/filter/skimmer/prior-lighting ...etc ...are you running? Are before and after shots possible so we can all see the effect?

 

Best of luck

[WREKDYVR]

jaykay, wondering if you had an update on the light fixture. Were you able to get the legs figured out?

 

Mattgreene22, maybe all of us 30 gal cubers should start our own (un)official thread.

[mattgreene22]

yes...jaykay...any update?

 

WREKDYVR, good thought. I wish I had something worhy of taking pictures of to post and start one...but I'm still putting the pieces together. You're gonna jump on that though...right? Oh, and as you're in Raleigh...have you seen FishWorld's 30g cube they set up recently? ...discussion for another thread.

 

-matt

[WREKDYVR]

Matt, did you see the 37gal corner tank they had before the 30 cube? It was very nice! One of the guys behind the counter told me some guy walked in one day and made them an offer on the whole setup, so $1500.00 later they were setting it up at his house.

 

As for pic's of my tank, well that's all you would see right now. Getting married in less than a month, so the tank is on hold.

 

We plan to have it up and running by the end of April though. BTW, after pricing mh light setups from other suppliers Aquatraders is looking better everyday.

[mattgreene22]

oh yeah...that was a nice tank...though it looked rough when they started it. I heard that same story too about the guy naming a price...didn't know how much though. I might have bought it too if I'd have known the amount of time and money I'd spend doing my cube. Ok...so not really...the figuring out part is just as much fun to me.

 

Now about the 30g cube they have on display now...I think it's funny they have the coralife MH fixture considering they were the ones who told me to go with the 96watt PC fixture I bought....from them. Don't they know they could have taken me for more ??? ...and I'd have been glad they did now that I already want to upgrade.

 

akayak65/jaykay, where you at?....we're totally taking over at this point. Time for you two to step back in, give an update...and regulate.

[TheCheat]

I don't know about the Aquatraders light, but I've got the AquaMedic 250W Oceanlight, and it's awesome. With all the great performance reviews out there for it, I'd just spring the extra bucks for that.

 

WREKDYVER--i'm getting married on the 16th (so soon!), so i've got some reef stuff "on hold" too. I was able to get liverock in there before we join our bank accounts though hahaha!

 

have a good one

~B

[Chronicles]

Would the MH or 2 of these be better?

 

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageA...WPROD&ProdID=19

 

You could put 2 or even 3 of those next to eachother giving 96 or 144 of T5 HO. 3 of them would be the same price, 2 would be much cheaper.

 

Edit: Just checked shipping on that MH

 

 

UPS $34.04

(Ground)

UPS $66.48

(3 Day Select)

USPS $74.47

(PRIORITY)

 

$75 from the post office? Is that a joke?

[jaykay]

OK, I havn't gotten my 30 cube yet, so I decided to "ghetto rig" the legs, and "balance" it on top of my mantis tank, for the sake of posting a pic:) Don't worry, it won't stay up there after the pics are taken.

 

I'll try to figure out how to post, so it may be a little time.

[mattgreene22]

Chronicles, since you seem to have some info (shipping and the like)...do you know if the t5 ho lights have individual reflectors on each bulb?

 

From what I understand...the primary benefit of t5, in general, is that you can squeeze more in a small space and that the light intensity (other than HO vs NO) is really gotten with good single bulb reflectors. I was exploring the idea of supplementing my 96watt PC quad with t5 HO, but I was afraid if I bought 2 of those 2x24(s)...then I'd still have to upgrade the bulbs and the reflectors. So in that scenario...not such a cheap option anymore.

 

As an FYI..."the 24 inch T5 has a 21 inch bulb." according to superfishstore.com. Just in case you do buy and want to shop for better bulbs etc. If you pick them up, let us know how it goes. From what I've read, enough T5 ho (like 6 bulbs) is suppose be roughly comparable to low watt MH in intensity given the same coverage area...IF you're using good individual-reflectors/bulbs.

[Chronicles]

From what I've read on RC, the smaller MH comes with a 175w mag. ballast which is made for mogul sockets, they have it overdriving a 150w DE bulb. No one so far has been able to get the "legs" to extend past 19.5". Also a lot of reports if you order from them these "free" bulbs can and most times will be broken. Not the MH bulbs but on PC strips they sell. They then charge you $7-$29 to ship a new bulb out. It was a nice idea because I want MH without having to hang it, but after reading the many many pages @ RC, I think I'll find something else.

[WREKDYVR]

Hey everybody, I'm back. Looks like I've missed a few discussions.

 

Jaykay, I can't wait to see pic's of the Ghetto rigged legs.

 

Mattgreene, I do like the 30g they have setup now. It's coming along nicely. I would love to have the light fixture that's on it. They qouted 399.99 for it, petsolutions has the same one for 359.99. Still not sure which way to go here. T5's are an interesting option, but I know even less about them.

 

Chronicles, were you talking about the 175w mh from aquatraders in your last post. If so, I need to jump over to RC and check out those posts before I spend any money. Thanks for the info.

[Chronicles]

Yes I was, because there is no 175w DE bulb. There are 2-3 guys over there that have them, 1 hanging, other 2 can't get the legs out more then 19.5".

[WREKDYVR]

Thanks for the response. I'm almost scared to order from them... Kind of goes back to that old saying, you get what you pay for.