<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13645234#post13645234 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by doovid
Crazzy,
Can you elaborate on what you mean per your post?? I read through the thread and can see where a lot of hobbists are unsure as to the lighting need for their tanks. There seem to be various opinions out there....
Are you saying that any item purchased on Ebay will be made of inferior materials or what do you mean by "mistake"??? I read where people have purchased very expensive lighting and were not happy with results, etc. I've logged on to RC to get advice/assistance, so please explain your comment.
In reading thru this post you will have, I am sure seen that many before have referenced different lights and fixtures for sale on Ebay, and that it seems the universal answer has been that they are not worth buying, mainly because the relectors are not good enough. I definitely donot want to give you any advice regarding this, but it seems that buying lights that are wholly not up to the job of supplying enough light to keep your animals is not what one should want. In a nutshell the cheap units and lamps donot give out enough light or reflect it to keep your friends alive. Unfortunately good lights and lamps are expensive, but they may be putting 5X the light on the bottom of your tank to keep your friends alive. The mistake I refer to, is buying non named brand fixtures that are not specifically referenced in this RC thread and others. Indeed there has been a "switch" to an acceptance to T-5's only in the past 18 months because the quality has improved dramatically. And LED's are starting to come on strong.
It just is that in keeping SPS and Clams one needs a lot of light that many just do not deliver. Look at the major improvement in the past 6 months, just by having a M.H. reflector designed for reefs.
Donot in way think I was being any way negative towards you, your question was somewhat like how long is a piece of string and a generalized question could not get a specific answer. If you see a better quality name brand on Ebay, buy it, but is it the better ones pointed out here? also many bulbs on ebay are worthless for Reefs.
I am sure that you can ask pointed questions and people like Grim and others will be glad to help you with specific suggestions to specific questions, all want to help. Realize that many swear by M.H. and would not use T-5's and vice versa. But in each, they are NOT using cheapo's from Ebay.
Once you sort out which you want, you might find them on RC under the Used Drygoods section for sale. I believe that what you will require will not be found on Ebay, but them I have been mistaken before.
Read, Read, and read some more, ask lots of questions, and even then like the best of us you will still make mistakes, just try not to make ones that can be avoided.
I have a 100g stock tank, roughly 48"x28"(frags will be 6-8" or so from the surface. and am going to run 3x54w T5's over the tank using an icecap ballast and ice cap SLR reflectors.
