Down to two lights, looking for assurance...

[Whatigot]

Originally Posted by sphelps

I wouldn't give up on the China one just yet. I work for a manufacturing company and although we do manufacture a lot of our products here in Canada 50% of our produces are either partially or completely manufactured in China and we still stick a made in Canada sticker on them. This is very common business practice for any manufacturing company as a lot of the time outsourcing is the only way to compete in the market.

There are many aquarium products made in China, and that doesn't necessarily mean they are crap. The only concern with the lighting is the ballasts, you'll want to make sure they can run properly on 110V without a converter. Also T5s will work best with individual reflectors and you'll likely want new, better bulbs.

Have you considered other fixtures? The PFO is OK but I wouldn't run VHOs. The bulb selection available for T5s right now is outstanding and a good advantage.

Thanks for the inside insight.
I just haven't seen any t5 blues that compare to the uri super actinics and with 800W of Icecap electronic power on a 24' deep tank, the supplemental lighting would only be for dawn/dusk and added blue, I've seen t5s and I've seen vhos in person and no question, the VHOs POP IMO.
Looking at that fixture, it DOES seems like it's quality...then again, so did my last ex.

I imagine that after I replace all the bulbs on the china one and replace the megnetic ballast with an electronic one they will both cost me about the same.

as a reference, here is a pic of the pfo fixture

[sphelps]

Yes I do believe VHOs have an advantage for pure actinic lighting due to the large radius, I believe. But in my experience using supplemental T5s will give better overall color.