Good cheap t5 not flood light

[BayArea_510]

has anyone tried these t5's they look good and a good low price
http://stores.ebay.com/topdogsellers/_i.html?_fsub=218232819

also what should i get the 60 inch dual or the quad this is for my 180 gallon tank and i want some nice lighting and whats the difference between dual and quad like is the lighting on the quad going to be to bright also the quad does come with blue moon leds

should i buy it, also if u own this fixture plz post a pic thank u

 

[RedDwarf]

Looks to be your average Chinese made T5 lights. The difference between the dual and quad is that the duals will have 2 bulbs where the quads will have 4 and the quads should be twice as bright. If you want full coverage for the lights I would go with 2 36" fixtures since your standard 180 would be 72" long. The dual fixtures should be fine for most lighting needs but that all depends on what you plan on keeping in your tank.

 

[MTWiley]

Looks like they're just reselling the Odysea fixtures from Aquatraders.com and the bids are actually slightly above what AquaTraders is selling them for.

Current bid is 129.95 on ebay and you can buy it directly from Aquatraders for 129.90.

As RedDwarf said they are your average chinese made T5 lights. Speaking from personal experience and my dad owning a manufacturing firm that manufactures both in the US and outsourcing some of it to china. We've seen that quality control in China is not going to be anywhere near what it is in the US or Germany, so you might get a good fixture you might not.

If your going to use it for lighting an unplanted freshwater or FOWLR tank and the lights burning out just means that you can't see your fish as well that's fine. But if you're thinking about using it for something like a reef or planted tank where living organisms are depending on there being light in the tank, I'd recommend at minimum spending a little bit more and going with a fixture from FishNeedIt.com. If you're on a tight budget you can put something together for your tank using two of their 36" fixtures for about $250 and I've heard good things about their fixtures, but don't have personal experience with them. If you can afford or wait and save around $500 I'd highly recommend the Sunlight Supply Tek Lighting either the 4 bulb or 6 bulb fixture depending on your your lighting needs as they're very well regarded in the reefing community.

 

[jcardona1]

I'm not a fan of anything Odyssea. I've seen them in person and they look like absolute cheap plastic garbage. I'd go with these first: www.fishneedit.com

 

[BayArea_510]

no i just have freshwater sa/ca cichlids, and i wanted a light fixture that can give me a nice crisp white natural look to my tank like the one below and i need something under $220 or around there the cheaper the fixture the better also i dont want a cheap bad fixure but a good cheap fixture, i dont do saltwater and am not doing plants , i might do plants in the future though so reccomend me some fixtures plz

 

[jcardona1]

so reccomend me some fixtures plz

See my post

The color of the light is all about the bulbs. If you want natural looking light, ditch the tacky blue bulbs. They look like ass on freshwater tanks. A mixture of 6500-10,000k bulbs will give you the most natural look.

 

[MTWiley]

See my post

The color of the light is all about the bulbs. If you want natural looking light, ditch the tacky blue bulbs. They look like ass on freshwater tanks. A mixture of 6500-10,000k bulbs will give you the most natural look.

Completely agree, fishneedit.com for decent lighting at a reasonable price and the blue bulbs look weird to me unless it's on a reef tank. Save up the additional $30 and get yourself some lights from fishneedit.com

 

[BayArea_510]

jcardona i can get the exact lights fro fish need it in my area, one of the discus breeders sells these brand new for the same price without the shipping though, now should i just get the 2 36 inchers for $140 total or should i get the flodlights which do you recommend, i dont mind getting the floodlights its jsut i dont know how to wire things up bt i canget a friend to do it so should i go with 4 of the floodlights for $110 or should i get the t5's , which look better. Also do flood lights make everything ripple to much or just enough because i dont want to get a headach , i wanted a dimmer look but if flood lights are all that great i could get them, which do u guys prefer or like better thanks

 

[BayArea_510]

^^^^

 

[haywood]

I have the dual 36" 2 x 39W lights on my 125 SA tank. They are cheap, and relatively cheaply made, but they work wonders. Order some bulbs while you're at it. I got 4 x 10,000K lights for $20 shipped. Pics below.

My 125 gallon

My 75 gallon Amphilophus tank

Random shots

And this is the way the light came, with 1 x actinic and 1 x 10,000K