Best clamp on Metal Halide fixture.

[tcmfish]

I am doing a biocube on a budget and trying to find a clamp on metal halide for it. I have been looking at the viper clamp lamp's but it seems some of the reviews haven't been that good. Any thoughts?

I was just looking at drfostersmith and they have another type of clamp on metal halide but its $100 more...

I'm sure there are more options, but as of right now I was thinking of getting the viper clamp lamp.

 

[zigzag1]

I am running one of the older model viper 150W and for the $100 that I paid for it new, I'm happy. Is it the best MH reflector, bulb, and ballast (magnetic)? Probably not. The low price has good deal of influence on my satisfaction, as I'm a reefer on a budget too.. GL!

 

[allsps40]

I had UV burning really bad when I tried switching out the Coralife bulbs on my old 150w Coralife Aqualight Advanced Clamp On. They were great with the Coralife bulbs I liked the 20ks best. But Wwhen I changes to any other brand bulb my sps got burned. The glass is not UV shielded enough for the higher out put bulbs. You can stick with the Coralife bulbs which are made of UV glass, yes the DE bulb are UV glass from Coralife. Or get a piece of UV glass to fit the light. I had no other problems with the light in 3 years they ran strong and sold them in good working condition. The UV issues just turned me off to them. The price on them has gone up a lot. They where $199.99 when I got mine now they are $299.99 for the same fixture.

 

[tcmfish]

So it looks like I have a limited amount of options.

There are the viper fixtures from JBJ. One has a fan and looks like a little better reflector plus LEDs. The other one looks kinda crappy.

Then there is the coralife one, but apparently you have to run coralife bulbs because of the UV/lack of glass.

Then there are the Hamilton bimini fixtures. I'm thinking this might be the best option. A little more trusted company.

Now the question, which one. I don't want the 70w, but they make a 150w and a 250w. I can get the 250w for the same price as the JBJ fixture with no fan.

http://www.hellolights.com/hamilton-bimini-tank-mount-hqi.aspx

I think 250w would be overkill, but you never know. I am also going to be running a 7 LED 38 PAR spotlight bulb, and I will be keeping mainly SPS and Zoas/palys with a few LPS.

 

[sirreal63]

The Hamilton is the best bang for the buck, it is a true M81 ballast, can be hung or clamped on and the choice of bulbs and no worries. For the price, you cannot go wrong.

 

[allsps40]

Plus 1 Hamilton makes good lighting.