fishneedit.com lights, anyone have them?

[dzeadow]

Just like it says, anyone have the fishneedit.com lights? I was looking into the 250w mh's but wanted to know the pros/cons of them, and also the t5's. Obviously price is a pro, i just didn't know anything else about them. TIA

 

[minireef30]

I have the 250w halide. I like the pendent but I don't like the color of the 20k bulb, it's to purple. Electronic ballast is nice too.
Are there better systems? Sure but not for the money. I'm very happy with my purchase.

 

[dzeadow]

so have you heard anything about the 14k bulb? I suppose it'd be worth getting them then replacing the bulbs down the line

 

[minireef30]

I think I've read that they burn white, but don't hold me to that.
Even with new bulbs it's still a deal. What are they going for now?
I think I gave $150-160 something for mine.

 

[minireef30]

Just looked it up and it's $149 on there site, so still a very good deal.

 

[RandalB]

I have 2x, a 150 and a 250. Not the highest quality but excellent for $149 each. Their bulbs tend to run one notch higher than rated (20K looks like 14K, 14 like 10,etc) in color. The 20K bulb is almost identical to a Phoenix 14K with less CRI.

I've had no issues with the hardware and they replaced a shipping damaged bulb at no charge. The owner called me on the phone within a couple of hours of me Emailing them about the bulb, so that's some decent customer service....

RandalB

 

[dzeadow]

that is pretty good customer service. Have either of you tried the fixtures w/ a different "higher end" ballast to see if there's any difference? I've seen the comparisons in the odyssea thread of their stock ballasts vs. ice caps and it's a night and day difference. After buying a couple of these fixtures I'd hate to have to also buy a new ballast to get them to work to their full potential. Thanks again.

 

[Paco]

I have one of their 24" T5 fixtures over a 20 gallon (not my DT). It was worth the $80 I paid for it.

 

[dzeadow]

do the t5s come with individual reflectors or is it just one reflector?

 

[Paco]

One reflector, bent to form around the bulbs.

 

[mrbigshot]

i know there redoing the lights to find some better mooonlights, most are still about 2 months out

 

[dzeadow]

hmm... the reflectors look a bit small to be effective, but probably still increase output better than the bulb itself. They also look like they're too close to the bulb on the backside to be able to "bounce" light off of. Maybe they'll redo that as well in the newer models. I guess those are supposed to be out next month