Good Deal?

[miked78231]

hey what do you guys think of this lighting? this will be used until i can afford better lighting.
http://cgi.ebay.com/JEBO-48-220W-55wx4-Power-Compact-Lighting_W0QQitemZ7732666542QQcategoryZ46314QQssPa geNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[mathias]

not bad.....

[fishypets]

Why don't you just save that money and buy the lights you want when you have it all?

[bigdscobra]

It depends what you have in your tank now? which lights do you have? when you going to upgrade to better ones? What do you want to put in your tank in the mean time till you get better lights?

[carlinsa]

right now i think he only has like 45 watt so this will big a HUGE upgrade.

[pilot_bell777]

This would be great for softies on your 55gal Mike........

I wouldn't push things that need high light under them though like clams, SPS, anenomes, etc.....

[Dozer]

I'm not a fan of buying something cheaper for the meantime until you can afford what you "really" want. You want my honest opinion? Rig up some 48" flourescent shop lights from Home Depot or Walmart for about $10. You know the ones I'm talking about, like you would hang in your garage. Buy a couple of normal output flourescent bulbs for about $3 a piece. That's 80 watts of flourescent lighting right there. If you can figure out the space, get TWO fixtures and 4 bulbs and you've now got 160 watts of flourescent lighting. This is more than enough for any fish and is enough for live rock and many low light corals (mushrooms for example). Use that until you can afford the lighting setup that you REALLY want and will be happy with- (when you're ready, you might try Frederick over at http://coralreefbazaar.com for example).

Btw, I did this very thing myself. I rigged up a cheap DIY canopy with some plywood I already had in the garage and I mounted 3 shoplights in it over my 55 gallon- total of 6 normal output flourescent bulbs- 240Watts. I kept several different kinds of softies in there, live rock, etc. It worked great until I could afford my Halide pendants and my new tank.

[cpreefguy]

I think this would be a good light to get. First because you could keep all softies under it. I guess you have to ask yourself whether or not you want anemones, SPS, or clams. If thats the case:
A) Save your money, I know its hard, but better to save your money for the light you want than on buying corals and having them die due to lack of light
or
B) Buy this light, if you decide that you want to go the higher light route and have some more money, buy a metal halide retro and you could retrofit the MH these lights into a canopy.
My .02

[gjuarez]

Mike,I have a friend who bought these lights and I wasnt too impressed with the actinic bulbs. It seemed like they were only blue bulbs, not true actinics. You cant beat the price though.

[pilot_bell777]

I don't think Mike being as new to the hobby as he is has SPS or something like that in his near future. Mike you would get your use out of them with softies for sure at that price. Problem with the cheap Home Depot setup is the light spectrum(s). You may not get a true antinic bulb with this, but at that price you can go get a true antinic bulb for it.

FOWLR + Softies.....good setup for the price but dont' try anything more. NO Offense, but anything more you need a few more years under your belt first! :-) adn these lights would pay for themselves in that time.

Your choice though.......if you are going to jump into SPS, Clams, etc.......then ya...save your money and get some MH with antinic suppliments.

Food for though.......

[cpreefguy]

^True. If you wanted to keep the higher maintainance things you would need to upgrade alot more that just lighting.

[TexasState]

I think you need to get a good filtration setup b4 you add light. (Mucho Light) + (Dirty tank) = Algae haven!
What kind of skimmer do you have?

[miked78231]

i have an HOB red sea skimmer

[Dozer]

I agree with what others are saying. At this point in your development in the hobby I would recommend some fish, live rock, mushrooms, maybe some green star polyp and zoos. This can be done with any cheap lighting you want, including DIY Home Depot specials. This will also give you an opportunity to get your filtration in order. Sump, fuge, skimmer, top-off (auto or manual), maintenance schedule and routine, stuff to make water changes easier and cleaner. Stuff like that. In other words lower cheaper light will allow you to get started and get a taste of the fun, but also it will keep you from getting in too deep too fast.

The other reasons I recommended the cheap DIY flourescent setup is because PC bulbs can be a little expensive if you're on an extreme budget. Also, you can re-use a shoplight in your garage or something after you're done with it. BUT, I have to say, I just noticed that that eBay fixture comes WITH the 4 bulbs. On second thought, if you've got the $60 I would recommend to go ahead and go for it. You can't beat that price. Down the road if you decide you like the hobby and want to go bigger and better, you can always use that fixture to light your refugium or a breeding tank or something like that.

Just my $.02 I say for that price go for it and have fun with some lower light softies! I had only fish, live rock, some shrimp and crabs and snails, some mushrooms, green star polyp and maybe some zoos for a couple years and was plenty happy with it! In fact I still have a mix of hard/soft corals and my softies are still some of my favorites, so you can have fun for a while with those lights and not be itching to get halides for a while. For that matter, who is to say you wouldn't be satisfied with a softy/live rock/tropical fish reef forever? There is no law that says you must ultimately end up with SPS. Many of us either never do or we do it after several years in the hobby.

good luck and let us know which way you go and we'll direct you to the best livestock, filtration (SKIMMER!!), sumps and other fun stuff and a good schedule of when to tackle these things.

[Bill S]

I would be VERY hesitant to buy anything made by Jebo - based on my experience with their skimmers. A total piece of junk that managed to overflow 5 gallons onto the floor on a regular basis - a MAJOR design flaw. The bulbs are throwaways.

[motohead]

i had this exact fixture for just a bit.was a pos.the actinic was not true,just blue.also after about 2 weeks,seeing as how it had no fans,i could smell the ballasts cooking inside it.was not but about 3 months and it started acting up.lights would flicker,would not come on,had a mind of their own.5 months later,the fixture took a crap and it was over with.i personally would pass if i was you.this fixture is only good for about three months,and then only if you like the smell of cooking ballasts.save your money and get some vho's......................

[pilot_bell777]

Doesn't have any fans.....what kind of design is that?????

No stay away from this one Mike.....

I like what the other said, work on your filtration first worry with the lights later. You can have all the lights in the world to keep any coral in the world but if your filtration isn't good enough you are going to kill a great bit of what you put in there.

food for thought....

[miked78231]

yea i think im going to go with an overflow and sump then work on lights later. thanks for all the input, that was going to be an impulse buy that i was going to regret 3 months down the road.

[Dozer]

it's a good point on the lack of fans, didn't even catch that.

Usually in this hobby (usually in life for that matter) you get what you pay for. It doesn't mean you can't find any good deals, but some stuff is just flat out too cheap and will cost you more in the end- which is exactly what you don't want. If you can live without addressing your lights for a while, that's a great idea. Or, maybe someone will sell something used? I sold some really good PC hoods a year or so ago for a great price because I just had no use for them and no space to store them. Keep your eye on the for-sale forum. Also, don't forget you could always rig something up from Home Depot with a little creativity and desire.

One more thing, going with an overflow and sump/fuge is possibly the best thing I ever did in this hobby. I have had MUCH more success since I did. It can be such a simple thing but can really work out great. I just made one myself with an old glass tank that fits underneath my stand. I always had trouble with my HOB skimmer (could never keep it "dialed in" right) and just assumed skimmers were a major Pain in the butt. Once I set up a sump/fuge with an in-sump skimmer though, it has always worked great and been very easy to use. Just some food for thought.

[miked78231]

ace is giving me great deal on the sump and overflow its just coming up with the money. thats kinda why im selling the gift card.

[Dozer]

ace is giving me great deal on the sump and overflow its just coming up with the money. thats kinda why im selling the gift card.

Get used to it :D . This hobby is definitely a money eater, there is just no way around it in the end. Of course it can be done over time and in stages. It's really your decision on whether or not you will attempt to keep SPS and some of the more delicate creatures that will have a large impact also. Fish, live rock and some softies can actually be done on somewhat of a budget- and is a very enjoyable tank and will help you gain experience so that you make an informed decision about how far and deep you want to go into the whole reef world. In my opinion doing TONS of research, asking the right questions to the right people, being willing to do some things yourself and being somewhat patient about getting things going will all help you to save a lot of money and have more success- it's a win-win!

I was in your exact same shoes a few years ago and I can't even tell you how many hours I spent using the search tools on MAAST, Reef Central and wetwebmedia. Hundreds if not thousands of hours. You have to understand why people do things the way they do so that you can make informed decisions in the end for yourself. The only way to do that is research. Some pick a certain book or two and stick with what it says, others use the internet. They key is putting in the time on the research. Then, if you can combine what you've researched with the advice of someone you meet that already has experience in the hobby and you learn to trust that person, you're all set. That's what is great about this forum for example is meeting people. There are several MAAST folks that have helped me TREMENDOUSLY over the last few years, but I also do my own homework before, during and after talking with them so I can absorb their advice. Then someday you will have something to offer to others and the chain continues. It's like right now I'm trying to learn about restoring/rebuilding old cars and it's something I don't have experience in. I research and research all the time online and I also have a couple friends with mechanical experience who I lean on. On the flip-side, I have a lot of knowledge about certain types of business software (ERP/RDBMS, etc) and have helped many aspiring developers/consultants over the last several years to have success in that specialized field. And someday I will have enough knowledge/experience to offer help to newbies in this hobby as well as the other things I'm currently learning. That's what it's all about, right?

Keep researching AS MUCH AS YOU CAN and then keep asking the folks on here specific questions. You'll learn an incredible amount.

All JMHO...