MH Light Opinion Check

double2mk · 03-19-2008, 07:32 AM

Does anyone know if this light / Vendor is any good ?
36" 442W Metal Halide System (Electronic Version) - 504013

I have a 46gal tank with a Coral Life t5 ho 4 x 60 w w/lunar lights currently/.

Is this an upgrade or about the same ? Problem with the CL is that is only 24" as it came from my other tank

\Cheers

cuttingras · 03-19-2008, 07:48 AM

I have the T6's from there and love them...there's a lot of talk about these lights and fires.

You either love them or hate them..

Odyssea Lights

Any info on T-6 lighting?

Has anyone tried "generic" light fixtures?

double2mk · 03-19-2008, 07:59 AM

Great thanks. I really need to stop being lazy and use the *&^&* search..

\Cheers

cuttingras · 03-19-2008, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by double2mk

Great thanks. I really need to stop being lazy and use the *&^&* search..

\Cheers

yeah it took me all of about 10 seconds

I get lazy too!!!

glassbox-design · 03-19-2008, 08:47 AM

The bulbs and ballasts i hear are not any good, IIRC the ballast will not fire a normal HQI bulb.

With that said, if you factor in a ballast and bulb you're still paying a good amount of $$ for some cheap plastic.

Have you considered making your own floating canopy? a thin ply box, say 36x12x3.5in with some DE retros will be more effective and attractive.

Also, at 36in i'd suggest 2x150 DE's or 175w SE's over a single 250 DE

gazog · 03-19-2008, 08:52 AM

I have 3 lights from them and had only one problem with a ballast on a light I had for about 3 months, called them and they replaced it no questions asked.

Newer light are fine its their older ones that are questionable as far as I know.

Calawah · 03-19-2008, 09:18 AM

There's a lot of talk about aquatraders not having very good customer support. You might want to try "hommby" on ebay, it's the same product I think.

I have a similar fixture by Odyssea, the 36" with 1 175W DE MH. I'm not running it currently, as I plan to replace the ballast and bulbs. The guy who sold me my tank threw it in for free, he did warn me that the ballast can get very hot. But if you look at the cost of the unit and the price of a new ballast and bulb, it's still a cheaper than most of the other options out there, assuming you don't just upgrade a year later!