Lights???

Excellent price. I wonder about the bulb size as HQI are typically 150 or 250 watt. I can not even find 175 HQI bulbs in my catalogs. The electronic ballasts for a HQI smallerthan a 400 watt I have never seen either. I really wonder if they are not suplying false advertising and photos, as this equipment just is not sold in the US. HQI lighting is a European lighting system though. Or common large retailers just might not be importing 175 HQI equipment for sale in the US. It appears to be a better version of a AquaLight pro costing twice as much. The two shorter PC's is a better design than that used by the more expensive Aqualight Pro and the electronic ballast would mean longer bulb life and lower operating costs. The ballasts and HQI bulbs being non standard in the US might make replacments harder to obtain. And the choices of bulbs might be more limited. The price though is excellent.
 
Bifferwine said:
Marine Depot sells 175 HQI bulbs.
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:bounce: You must have a newer catalog. Mine has 175 screw socket bulbs, but has HQI only in 70, 150., 250 and 400 watt. Seems like I get a new Drs. Foster and Smith catalog almost every month or so, but I can not remember when I got my last Marine Depot catalog. But the one I have has no 175 watt HQI bulbs, just screw type receptacle 175's. :^:
Just checked their web site, no 175 watt replacement bulbs for HQI, only screw type base bulbs in 175 watt
 
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I would be very careful with lights off ebay that aren't a recognized brand. Often the reason that they are so cheap is because the components that they use are cheap and burn out quickly. For most things you get what you pay for and I look at this like the guy who is selling his Rolex for 75% off on ebay, what are the chances that the Rolex he is buying is going to be legit? The ballasts alone to run the halides should run about $250 on their own, so its seems like a case of too good to be true.
 
Oh, but if it was true. I sure would like to buy some lights at prices like that! If they were selling at Walmart where I could see them first, I would try some out. But mail order, or web order, without being able to touch them and examine them to some extent, at that unheard of price, I am not that brave. Too much like gambling, and I do not gamble. Although, I do think the Chinese electronics industry could produce good lights for that same cost though. However, I doubt any American bulb manufacturer would support that by producing compatible bulbs for replacements.
 
Well on my 35 back in Jan I bought a 110.00 150 watt MH and it has been great. And I buy almost anything on Ebay. My motto is if Ebay does not have it you don't need it. So I went ahead and payed for the lights. Should be here by the end of next week. I will let you know what happens.
 
kriscat2003- If the little things don't make a difference to you then thats good, don't think that I am trying to dissuade you from the light or tell you that the purchase is a bad one, I'm not trying to do either. But I will inform you of possible differences between ebay lights and name brand lights. The bulbs that ebay lights use often have a more yellow look to them and often have far less PAR than other lights, which simply means less power. This is not something the average hobbyist is going to notice. The ballast often run much hotter and can burn out more quickly. The fixtures can have inadequate fans which means they run hotter and that can be problematic. The fixtures may also corrode more quickly from being made of lesser materials (mainly cheaper steels that oxide more easily). Like I said above, I think for that price it may well be worth it, but I just be aware that the fixture may have some limitations.
 
McCrary said:
kriscat2003- If the little things don't make a difference to you then thats good, don't think that I am trying to dissuade you from the light or tell you that the purchase is a bad one, I'm not trying to do either. But I will inform you of possible differences between ebay lights and name brand lights. The bulbs that ebay lights use often have a more yellow look to them and often have far less PAR than other lights, which simply means less power. This is not something the average hobbyist is going to notice. The ballast often run much hotter and can burn out more quickly. The fixtures can have inadequate fans which means they run hotter and that can be problematic. The fixtures may also corrode more quickly from being made of lesser materials (mainly cheaper steels that oxide more easily). Like I said above, I think for that price it may well be worth it, but I just be aware that the fixture may have some limitations.
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:bounce: They also are typically not serviceable if you do have problems as they are sold without the makers having establishes contracts with any US firms to supply parts or service. Seldom are bulbs or replacements parts even avialable for persons you have enough electronics experience to do the repairs themselves. They are essentially pirated lights, as in pirated CD's. European aquarium equipment is often very good, but often unless bought from major US firms the parts and service for them is also unavailable, and they usually cost more than US sold equipment. Some times this does not matter as someone mightget theirmoneys worthout of the equipment before any parts or service is needed. Oftenthis is not he case and people are stuck with unusable equipment. There are many cases where even US distributed/manafactured equipment is noperable upon receipt. US distributers are available an generrally they hurriedly see that the equipment is replaced or repaired.:^:
 
I just received a 442 watt set from the same place. They appear to be Odyssea brand lights, of which I have heard good and bad. The ballast ran cool for the couple hours I left them on and the lights appear to be OK. They also didn't produce as much heat as I expected, although I still changed the glass top for a vented top (made from the lighting egg-crate). I am very new to reefing (kept saltwater fish only for a couple years) so I can't comment on how the quality compares to other vendors.

That said, while I took the chance, I would still normally recommend and lean toward a known, reputable, name brand light. I asked the E-bay vendor for the manufacturer and the answer was "a generic light made in china" (I also prefer to support American companies, but that's my own personal preference). Also, as Fatman pointed out, I really hope I don't have to find out what kind of service is available for the system.
 

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