Ebay Metal Halide and T5 fixtures

[Reef of Fillory]

I'm looking for feedback on Ebay Metal Halide/T5 fixtures. I'm debating going to a combo setup like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/MH-24-Meta...mp-LED-346W-/111477953282?hash=item19f49a9302

On my Fluval EVO 13.5 gallon. I'm looking for any experience good or bad, and any issues I may run into with this low-end type of fixture.

My tank is 12" wide by 19" long, and this fixture is 25" x ~14"

There is also a 150W fixture with no T5 supplements:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/MH-150-Aqu...067?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l4275.c10#viTabs_0

 

[wally431]

I have the 4ft version of the first link you have posted there. From the exact same seller too which is a good person to deal with. Had one of the t5 ballast go out just after my 30days n they sent me a new one was pretty impressed.
Either way the light is nice has everything right there. I just put different bulbs throughout the whole thing and it's working great.
Went with ati coral plus and super actinic or however its spelt. And also switched the double enders to 14k bulbs instead of the 10k that come in it.
I'm just getting the tank up and running so I cant say anything on how it grows corals tho but it's worked so far and was happy to get the replacement ballast free

 

[Reef of Fillory]

I have the 4ft version of the first link you have posted there. From the exact same seller too which is a good person to deal with. Had one of the t5 ballast go out just after my 30days n they sent me a new one was pretty impressed.
Either way the light is nice has everything right there. I just put different bulbs throughout the whole thing and it's working great.
Went with ati coral plus and super actinic or however its spelt. And also switched the double enders to 14k bulbs instead of the 10k that come in it.
I'm just getting the tank up and running so I cant say anything on how it grows corals tho but it's worked so far and was happy to get the replacement ballast free

You've been running the fixture, but new tank? I think that as long as the ballasts are driving the bulbs, there's not much more to it aside from par distribution which comes from the reflectors?

How is the heat on it?

I saw one review that mentioned it being plastic, but the listing states that it's aluminum, is yours aluminum?

What's your overall impression of it? Debating going for one of these and replacing the bulbs, or looking for something used off of the forums. Used with possibly a better reflector and ballast might cost the same, but would likely also need new bulbs.

Just not sure that a name brand reflector is worth the used equipment risk

 

[wally431]

Mine has 3 fans in it that cool it down n ro a good job of it. I have no par meter so I don't know the spread on the reflectorsbut it's been a great light so far

 

[mcarroll]

It's low cost, but not very ideal.

Sketchy ballasts are not a way to start...and bulbs you immediately want to replace make some of the price tag cheapness a mirage.

Bulbs
$20/ea for ATI T5's
$65 for the halide

That's another $145 – almost double the initial cost.

Ballasts
$26/ea for 2xT5
Halide is $140

....another $200!

So...
165
145
+200
$510

For $510 you can put a much better light over that tank.

All of Hamilton's Aquarium Pendant Lighting Systems are $300-ish, for example.

For a smallish tank you might want:

$249
Bali Sun™ Series Metal Halide Mogul E39 Pendant Lighting System

Maxspect's options are in that range, inlcuding the Ethereal:

MAXSPECT RAZOR X R5 100W LED FIXTURE

$449.99


MAXSPECT ETHEREAL 130W LED & ICV6 CONTROLLER PACKAGE

$489.99

Kessil even gives you a ton of options....up to 4 of the A80's or two of the A160's would fit the budget.

• 
  KESSIL A160WE TUNA BLUE LED LIGHT
  
  $239.00
• 
  KESSIL A80 TUNA BLUE NANO LED LIGHT
  
  $129.00

You get the idea....that's just the tip of the iceberg for a tank your size. $510 is a heck of a budget.

Even if you only replace the bulbs that sets your budget at $310. LOTS of nice options even at that range.

I think most folks who put these eBay fixtures to good use, only use the chassis and power system and replace the heart of the system – ballasts and bulbs. If you're really into that, then it's probably a pretty good deal.

But if you want to get a good fixture that you can use out of the box for the money spent, I'd keep looking...even used, like you said.

 

[smiley28]

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bimini-sun-double-ended-hqi-metal-halide-reflector-hamilton.html

Buy now and save 10%

Also still gunna need a bulb and ballast but still would be nice over a 13.5g

 

[Reef of Fillory]

I'm leaning towards no LED. I don't like the complexity of it. Just ordered the Odyssey 250w + 4 T5 fixture in 24"

$165

Going with a phoenix 14k 250w bulb and
2 coral+, and
2 blue +

$145

For $310.

The used fixtures and even new ones I found were around the 300-310 range without bulbs (just reflector and ballast, purchased separately), and no t5 supplements

Going to stick with the included ballast, but over time replace them with better quality

Possibly even upgrading to ATI t5 reflectors

A lot of the reviews that I've read over the past day or two on the Odyssey fixtures are mostly positive with small complaints

 

[Reef of Fillory]

Does anyone have recommendations for bulbs? I think that i'd like to go with the Phoenix 14k MH bulb, but i'm not sure ont he T5 bulbs.

Looking to stick to ATI bulbs for the T5... Not sure if 2 coral + and 2 Blue+ will be too much blue on the tank, as the wife prefers a more white look, but also would like to have the flourescence/glow from the corals to highlight their colors.

Any opinions?

I have the 4ft version of the first link you have posted there. From the exact same seller too which is a good person to deal with. Had one of the t5 ballast go out just after my 30days n they sent me a new one was pretty impressed.
Either way the light is nice has everything right there. I just put different bulbs throughout the whole thing and it's working great.
Went with ati coral plus and super actinic or however its spelt. And also switched the double enders to 14k bulbs instead of the 10k that come in it.
I'm just getting the tank up and running so I cant say anything on how it grows corals tho but it's worked so far and was happy to get the replacement ballast free

Did you go with 2 Coral +, and 2 super actinic? Is the tank really blue with the 14k bulb? What brand of 14k did you go with?;

 

[mcarroll]

250w halide over that little tank, or are you gonna retrofit 150w clips too?? I didn't look close enough and thought it was a 150w.

Otherwise that's wicked overkill – you need a bigger tank now! I'd suggest not using the halide at all or not using the T5's.

 

[Reef of Fillory]

250w halide over that little tank, or are you gonna retrofit 150w clips too?? I didn't look close enough and thought it was a 150w.

Otherwise that's wicked overkill – you need a bigger tank now! I'd suggest not using the halide at all or not using the T5's.

Haha yeah 250 watt, not really sure what the different Kelvin bulbs look like, but I've been hearing that a lot of people like using the 14k phoenix

The idea is also to use this fixture in the future on a larger tank

 

[jda]

Is it too late to choose the 150w version? This will be more than enough for a 13.5 gallon tank, less heat and less electricity. Even a 70 watt version would be enough, but bulb choices are not good.

For T5s, I like to have a pair of 6500k and True Actinic - both of these can bring out color that you don't get in other T5 bulbs so I like to use them as supplements...

14k Phoenix is a great 250w bulb. If you need bluer, then 20k Hamilton is a good choice.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Odyssea fixtures work and before LED came around any reefers on a budget used these lights. Ballasts are cheap as are the fans and they tend to fail and the bulbs they come with are not the best. Again though they work. Swap out the bulbs after 6 months to better bulbs and upgrade the ballasts when they fail. Odyssea's main retailer Aquatraders.com closed down a while ago and I am surprised to still see some fixtures on Ebay. I wish Coralife still made the Aqualight Pro, I would like one for my setup.

 

[Reef of Fillory]

Is it too late to choose the 150w version? This will be more than enough for a 13.5 gallon tank, less heat and less electricity. Even a 70 watt version would be enough, but bulb choices are not good.

For T5s, I like to have a pair of 6500k and True Actinic - both of these can bring out color that you don't get in other T5 bulbs so I like to use them as supplements...

14k Phoenix is a great 250w bulb. If you need bluer, then 20k Hamilton is a good choice.

Yeah, too late [already ordered] but I'm also planning to use this fixture in the future on a larger tank as well, so as long as I can mitigate the heat, I am okay with running more light, and possibly shading out some of the LPS, focusing on SPS on the tank.

Odyssea fixtures work and before LED came around any reefers on a budget used these lights. Ballasts are cheap as are the fans and they tend to fail and the bulbs they come with are not the best. Again though they work. Swap out the bulbs after 6 months to better bulbs and upgrade the ballasts when they fail. Odyssea's main retailer Aquatraders.com closed down a while ago and I am surprised to still see some fixtures on Ebay. I wish Coralife still made the Aqualight Pro, I would like one for my setup.

That was the plan, although i'm going to be switching over the MH bulb out immediately, and probably changing two of the "stock" bulbs out to an ATI + and a Coral +

I was looking for ballasts, but I know pretty much nothing about them and find conflicting information via my Google search, and recommendations to ballasts that are no longer being made/sold.

 

[wally431]

Went with the Phoenix 14k and I really like the more blue look to them then the 10k.
As for upgraded ballast I'm not sure what ballast you would upgrade to, I've got 3 spare of the odyyesa ballasts. The only thing with using a different ballast would be the plug from the light is a 3 prong like a computer power plug and most new electric ballast are different plugs altogether

 

[Reef of Fillory]

250w halide over that little tank, or are you gonna retrofit 150w clips too?? I didn't look close enough and thought it was a 150w.

Otherwise that's wicked overkill – you need a bigger tank now! I'd suggest not using the halide at all or not using the T5's.

Do you think that 250 watts on my 13.5 gallon cannot be successful? Assuming that the fixture will be hung near 12 inches from the water surface, and with fans blowing over the surface of the tank. We tend to keep our AC set to 72 in the summer here in Michigan, and will open windows at night sometimes to "cool" the house off [would use a heater to keep temps stable at night]

I wish that they sold the same fixture as a 150 watt with the T5's but the 150 watt has no T5's and i'd like to have everything self-contained [not retrofitted, and no hood]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MH-150-Aqu...067?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l4275.c10#viTabs_0

 

[mcarroll]

150w is fine for that tank – still overkill.....no need for T5's at all. Not even a small need. It's 13 gallons. Can you find a 70-watt version? Seriously...you can still get reef bulbs for 70w, so I'd try. I definitely wouldn't bother with anything over 150-watts except purely out of experimentalism.

(How did you get from just needing to tweak your Prime's to wishing for old-school lights BTW? It's all-good, but I missed something!)

 

[Reef of Fillory]

150w is fine for that tank – still overkill.....no need for T5's at all. Not even a small need. It's 13 gallons. Can you find a 70-watt version? Seriously...you can still get reef bulbs for 70w, so I'd try. I definitely wouldn't bother with anything over 150-watts except purely out of experimentalism.

(How did you get from just needing to tweak your Prime's to wishing for old-school lights BTW? It's all-good, but I missed something!)

I want something simple that just works. I find that if I have something to tinker with, I will never be happy with how it is. The MH setup is appealing to me in that you set it up, and can't mess it up too much [aside from heat or acclimation issues].

I've already ordered the 250W fixture and it's already shipped. I was hoping to use the T5's for morning/night viewing since with a MH bulb on my small tank, the lighting period will likely only be 4-6 hours max.

If the 250w is very unlikely to work on my tank [due to excessive heat/light] then i'll ask the seller about their return process and just eat the return shipping if necessary. If it is just a matter of "wasted energy/light" and not so much of "will fry everything and never work" then i'll likely stick with the 250w fixture and use it on a future build once i'm out of my current apartment.

Thanks!

 

[mcarroll]

Do you think that 250 watts on my 13.5 gallon cannot be successful? Assuming that the fixture will be hung near 12 inches from the water surface, and with fans blowing over the surface of the tank.

Sorry I didn't answer directly the first time....

I think you'll need it to be higher than that for the heat factor.

As a result you will probably be lighting the room even more than you'll be lighting the tank.

Note that neither the UV nor the blue light that exit the fixture are good for your eyeballs.

"A little light spill" can be tolerated by most folks, but with the light at that height you'll be living in a bright, 20,000K room – not just spilling "a little out from the tank".

We'll see how it works out though...maybe you'll actually be able to do a lower height due to other more-favorable ambient conditions like low temperature and humidity levels in the room air to promote evaporation with the fans.

I want something simple that just works. I find that if I have something to tinker with, I will never be happy with how it is. The MH setup is appealing to me in that you set it up, and can't mess it up too much [aside from heat or acclimation issues].

I think this fixture kinda fails on that count, IMO...

Everything about it needs to be replaced....bulbs first, but probably ballasts too.

You don't have a go-to, favorite halide bulb yet, or a favorite combo of T5 bulbs.

Between those two items, I think that represents a lot of potential tweaking and indecision, etc, as well.

And yes you will have to figure out the heat issues on top of that.

Unless you've already ditched the LED's I wouldn't consider them a lost-cause.

Depending on the vendor's return policy on the halide system, try it out.

Just be prepared for the issues mentioned and if they are insurmountable, then you already have a good fallback in your other lights.

Worst case scenario is that you can sell the unwanted system (either one) used....not so bad as long as you end up with lights that you and your corals like. You even end up with some experience with both sets of lights!

 

[Reef of Fillory]

Sorry I didn't answer directly the first time....

I think you'll need it to be higher than that for the heat factor.

As a result you will probably be lighting the room even more than you'll be lighting the tank.

Note that neither the UV nor the blue light that exit the fixture are good for your eyeballs.

"A little light spill" can be tolerated by most folks, but with the light at that height you'll be living in a bright, 20,000K room – not just spilling "a little out from the tank".

We'll see how it works out though...maybe you'll actually be able to do a lower height due to other more-favorable ambient conditions like low temperature and humidity levels in the room air to promote evaporation with the fans.



I think this fixture kinda fails on that count, IMO...

Everything about it needs to be replaced....bulbs first, but probably ballasts too.

You don't have a go-to, favorite halide bulb yet, or a favorite combo of T5 bulbs.

Between those two items, I think that represents a lot of potential tweaking and indecision, etc, as well.

And yes you will have to figure out the heat issues on top of that.

Unless you've already ditched the LED's I wouldn't consider them a lost-cause.

Depending on the vendor's return policy on the halide system, try it out.

Just be prepared for the issues mentioned and if they are insurmountable, then you already have a good fallback in your other lights.

Worst case scenario is that you can sell the unwanted system (either one) used....not so bad as long as you end up with lights that you and your corals like. You even end up with some experience with both sets of lights!

Just got the juggling out of the way and initiated a return for the 250W / T5 fixture. Ordered the 150w fixture and exchanged my 250w Phoenix bulb order for a 150w bulb at BRS. I've read much better reviews of the newer Odyssea ballasts, so i'm going to use the stock ballast until I find a deal on a used IceCap or Luxcore ballast.

Was planning to sell the LED's if the MH work out,

Now i'm wondering about how to supplement the 150w with some more actinic to bring out the colors in the corals and have a dusk/dawn effect before and after the halide comes on

 

[jda]

You will not need any actinic to supplement the phoenix when it is on. It can both render great color and illuminate the coral at the same time. You won't hardly be able to see it anyway.

For dusk/dawn, how about just a few blue LEDs attached to the fixture in inconspicuous places? Kinda a DIY Reefbrite strip? You will not need many.

I would keep the tank top as open as possible... 150w HQI is a great light and pretty low heat, but 13.5 gallons is not a lot of volume. Have a fan and turn it on with the light... do not get cute and wait until the temp starts to rise... once the temp starts to rise, you are already behind.