EBAY Metal Halide Lights

litttlefish3000 · 03-28-2005, 07:45 AM

There is an EBAY power seller, username 360summer360, who sells 175 watt and 250 watt MH lights for a BUY-IT-NOW price of 100 an 110 dollars respectively and since I am a 14 year old on a budget i had a few questions:

Has anyone had experience with this person?
Are these prices fair (new to highlevel lighting)
What does he mean by a used ballast housing
The exact specs of the lights This item comes with a 3 year warranty from our company! You are bidding on a complete 250 watt 120 volt metal halide remote ballast aquarium light with chrome batwing reflector. This system includes: 1)Brand New 250 Watt Metal Halide Ballast built into a USED ballast housing which will be either brown or white. 2) New 250 watt metal halide 10k bulb. 3)New 18" chrome batwing reflector. 4) Electrical cables - Wall to ballast 3.5 feet (Standard 3 prong plug) Electrical cable - Ballast to Light 10 feet. The Ballast housing will either be white or brown. The 3 year warranty covers everything but the bulb.
I have a 55 gallon tank which I am going to hopefully grow corals and clams of all varieties in, so which ones would be best to get, I was thinking two of the 175 watt fixtures but the extra 75 watts for 10 dollars seemed like a deal so i thought that maybe i could two 250 watt fixtures

Any help and or comments would be greatly appreciated

Thank You,

Alex Green
A.K.A. the 14 year-old on a budget

litttlefish3000 · 03-28-2005, 07:50 AM

Also what do you guys think about these setups

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW

Thats 259.99$

and this one

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW

thats 365$

yardboy · 03-28-2005, 08:21 AM

Welcome littlefish,

Go to some of our sponsors and price out what you'd be getting from the eBay vendors, determine if the little extra money, if any, you'd save is worth it.

chrisf9801 · 03-28-2005, 08:49 AM

I personally wouldn't deal with a seller that keeps their feedback comments private. That just screams that their hiding something.

on the other hand 360summer360 seems to be a very reputable seller.

Just bear in mind that you'll be building a canopy for the retro kits. I also agree with yardboy, our sponsors have very good equipment, check there and compare.

HTH -chris

litttlefish3000 · 03-28-2005, 11:05 AM

Thanks For Your Help

I kind of wish there was a progressive for aquarium lighting.

lol

I will shop around some can you give me some of your personal preferences for lightiong systems and or dealers.

thanks
ALex

menelaus22 · 03-28-2005, 11:54 AM

I just recieved the MH set-up from aquatraders.com. Despite what some other people have said, I find it to be a high quality light. I'm very pleased.

chrisf9801 · 03-28-2005, 11:56 AM

As others on htis board will tell you, lighting is totally dependant on what you want to keep.

I didn't catch your tank specs but if you want my preferences....

I really like the PFO Polyp Lights, you can find them on marinedepot.com. Inexpensive is not really a term used when looking into Metal Halide lighting, so be prepared!!

hellolights.com also has very nice stuff. Really, all of our forum sponsors have what you need.

This is a pretty nice light too;
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...80696&tc=photo

Yep! They're expensive! You should probably decide on what you want to keep and then decide if Metal Halide is absolutely necessary. There are plenty of folks keeping SPS and CLams under PC or VHO fixtures.

Good Luck
HTH -chris

akeyzoo · 03-28-2005, 01:23 PM

littlefish3000,
I see your tag mentions eels and lionfish.... What are you inteding to keep? Those fish are normally attributed to a fish only tank, and do not require MH lighting.

Chris

litttlefish3000 · 03-28-2005, 01:47 PM

My tag was just something I made up during computer application class. It has no bearing on my tank, I just was trying to think of two alienish type fish, if you know what I mean

Also my tank is a 55gallon tank newly setup, about 4 months old, I want to keep corals and clams and I know other lighting systems will work but Metal Halide just seems like it would be better for the animals overall

chrisf9801 · 03-28-2005, 02:33 PM

Well, Metal Hlaide will definitely give you that "shimmer". It'll cost you though.

On that 55, if you want 2 MH bulbs and 2 Actinics, figure at a minimum 500 bucks, and you'll still want to upgrade the bulbs and probably the ballasts.

You could certainly DIY a hood for a little less. I think if I was going to build my own hood, I'd go with double ended HQI Metal Halide parts. They can be built into a much shallower fixture. You'll just need a UV shield though.

I have been told several times here, buy the absolute best you can afford, if you don't, you'll end up paying for it later when what you just bought doesn't work out. Budget, Reef uh-huh...sure.

yardboy · 03-28-2005, 08:52 PM

I grimace though when people talk about how expensive metal halides are. Watt for Watt over time they are the cheapest lights available and the best. And while DE's can be more expensive, XM has DE's now that are competitive with mogul.

chrisf9801 · 03-29-2005, 06:20 AM

True, I guess I should have said that the initial outlay of money is greater.......

djquixotic · 03-30-2005, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by litttlefish3000

There is an EBAY power seller, username 360summer360, who sells 175 watt and 250 watt MH lights for a BUY-IT-NOW price of 100 an 110 dollars respectively and since I am a 14 year old on a budget i had a few questions:

Has anyone had experience with this person?
Are these prices fair (new to highlevel lighting)
What does he mean by a used ballast housing
The exact specs of the lights This item comes with a 3 year warranty from our company! You are bidding on a complete 250 watt 120 volt metal halide remote ballast aquarium light with chrome batwing reflector. This system includes: 1)Brand New 250 Watt Metal Halide Ballast built into a USED ballast housing which will be either brown or white. 2) New 250 watt metal halide 10k bulb. 3)New 18" chrome batwing reflector. 4) Electrical cables - Wall to ballast 3.5 feet (Standard 3 prong plug) Electrical cable - Ballast to Light 10 feet. The Ballast housing will either be white or brown. The 3 year warranty covers everything but the bulb.
I have a 55 gallon tank which I am going to hopefully grow corals and clams of all varieties in, so which ones would be best to get, I was thinking two of the 175 watt fixtures but the extra 75 watts for 10 dollars seemed like a deal so i thought that maybe i could two 250 watt fixtures

Any help and or comments would be greatly appreciated

Thank You,

Alex Green
A.K.A. the 14 year-old on a budget

I just got a light about 4 days ago from 360summer360 the light came in 3 days of payment I have no complaints except*** I got a timer from wal-mart the most expensive one they had rated for 20amps and it was shutting the light off every 2 hours. I was freaked out because I thought it was the light but it was the timer. I have seen a lot of HID lights in my life and this light looks like a square deal.

This is just my opinion take it for what it is he did seem a little flakey with the communication but other than that good for me.>>

>>

tdwyatt · 03-30-2005, 01:05 AM

-just tagging along