Lighting from ebay?
 

i am thinkin of starting off a reef tank and it's my first time. lighting can get pretty expensive and i'm thinkin about going with t-5's. i've looked on ebay and they are pretty inexpensive. my question is, how is the quality? has anyone ever bought them off ebay?

here's a link to what i was looking at

http://cgi.ebay.com/48-Aquarium-Ligh...item414e2b154f

anyone know where i can get a set from any reputable dealers with cheap prices or even a set that are second hand?

im also thinkin of this
http://cgi.ebay.com/Metal-Halide-Ret...item45ed34c64a

i know its just the ballast and all but what type of canopy would i need to screw this fixture in?

I would be careful with cheap t5 fixtures. Reflectors are really important for t5 lighting and most of the cheap fixtures have only 1 big reflector for all the bulbs. You could look into Sunlight Supply New Wave light fixtures they are cheaper than the Tek fixtures and are pretty good or do a retrofit if your tank will have a canopy. With retro you can make a very good lighting system for cheaper than most fixtures. For example, I hear you can buy ATI t5 reflectors (supposed to be the best reflectors out there) from reefgeek (only by phone) and put together a great retro that is almost as good as the super high end ATI fixtures.

I wouldn't recommend buying anything on eBay... Yeah, it's cheaper but the risk of buying broken junk and having the hassle of returning it with eBay's stupid and useless protection policy isn't worth it.

Save up and buy it at the LFS, that way if there's anything wrong with it you can immediately return it.

I bought 4 - 4 bulb 48" Odyssea fixture's from E-Bay for my 8' tank, they are exactly the same fixture's that Kevin has on some of his tank's at Red Coral in Calgary. The bulb's are not the best but the fixture's are perfect, 3 power cord's & switches per fixture, acrylic cover's, built-in cooling fan's and mounting leg's for such an awesome price.

The only thing I would get more info on is the 5 year warranty.

The odyssea fixtures don't have individual reflectors does it? Its a single large reflector? I'm kicking around buying the 24" at red coral right now......

They are one piece but they are bent between each bulb to a peak. And if Kevin uses them that is good enough for me.

Even if it is one piece bent to create individual reflectors, be careful. From what I understand the reflective material are not all the same. But having the bends to create seperate wells is better than just one big reflector for all.

i have the same one grizz has and like it was slowly changing the bulbs but it works well my sps seem to like it as well as everything else growing like weeds

If you are going to buy off ebay buy something with guts:
http://cgi.ebay.com/48-Metal-Halide-...item2a05be8fc6

Thats a prety sweet light.
here is a nother one that is better than what you posted.

http://cgi.ebay.com/48-4-ft-Metal-Ha...item19bb047f2c

the better ones cost a bit more but they are worth it.

and if you just wanted T5's try this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/48-NovaExtreme-P...item414e16a502

Bill

These are the one's I got

http://cgi.ebay.ca/48-4ft-T5-HO-Mari...item19bb00daa2

current wont ship to canada.. says right in the link

booo those looked so cheap even with shipping

I would recommend figuring out what you want and then come one here and post "I am looking for...". You'll be surprised what you'll find or get. I did the same and got a beatiful coralife MH for cheap (less that what I would have paid for the T5 set up I was planning on).

i was thinkin of renting out a mailbox in the states. they dont charge that much and then driving down to pick it up. niagara falls NY is only 2 hours away.

also, knowing what i want depends on the cost also for now LOL. i don't plan on skimping out on my fish tank it's just that i don't have all this money to blow at once so i'm gonna settle for things that will last me a bit until i can save up and upgrade. At the same time, i don't wanna buy something that down the line i will just end up replacing the whole unit because it's not good enough.

i have done a bit of reading on reviews and i haven't came cross anything negative yet on ebay lighting. has anyone ever had a problem with them?

This one actually looks like the Sunlight Supply Sunblaze fixture I have so you should ask the seller if it is. It is a good fixture for the price. It only has one cord so you can't do sunrise/sunset etc. on timers but I seem to be getting 300+ PAR in the top part of my tank and close to 180 PAR at the bottom with 14 month old bulbs. I'm sure it would be higher with new bulbs. The tank is 20" deep.

Extremely worthwhile if you can. I have one in Blaine Wa but I live 5 minutes from the border crossing so it is very convenient for me.