reefman Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Does anyone have any experience with these. The seller said they are made by "Workhorse Assemblies". http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180400360562&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123 Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 ? seem cool, i bought an 8 bulb t5 fixure off ebay CHEAP and it was a no name brand. The color of bulbs sucked so i replpaced them with geismen buls and its awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefman Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 (edited) Was it this same no-name brand or seller? I figured I would replace any bulbs if I got it (now you mention it, I need to consider that into my "cost"). Stephen Edited September 1, 2009 by reefman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 no it wasnt this seller. do the ususal and look at his sales and comments. If he give a phone# then if you like the look of the fixture you should have no problems. You can always replace teh bulbs later. If the fixture goes bad soon you can take it up with him or PAY_PAL. USE PAY-PAY, that away your insured that your covered. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 the light i bought was Catalina Lighting. Look and see if they have a light like this online. You will have to do some searching for them but you will find them(CatalinaLighting) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhart032 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 dont know about that light, but if it has workhorse ballasts then it should be a great light as thr workhorse is a very good ballast for all applications..after looking at it a little more i glanced at the price and whoa thats kinda high for 2 t5s and a 250w mh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefman Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 Mhart, Unless I'm looking at it wrong, its 4xT5s and 2x250Ws. If there is something equal or cheaper, I would love to see it. I doubt its Workhorse ballast (it would be nice), he said the brand was Workhorse Assemblies. I tried to google it and came up with nothing. In a second note I sent him, he said they don't have a web site, but do have a 5 year warranty, however I don't put much stock in that - warranties aren't much good if a company shuts down and renames itself. Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhart032 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Oh yea, 4 t5s i was just looking at the fixture and it looked like only 2 for 4t5s and a 250w mh thats a decent price. i think i would retro everything tho, then you can get quality stuff for about the same price, not including bulbs, but didnt you say you were going to change them anyway? what are you going to put this over anyway? your 200? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefman Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 Yes, if I go this route. I had originally planned to retro everything. It's kind of a convulted story. From the start, I've had a wooden "floating" (supported by two wooden columns) light canopy that Brian at Kingfish built for me when we set up the Elos. It has 2 x 400W MH and 2 x 54W T5s. The problem is, because the light canopy sits off the water only about 12 inches, I really can't get to the back part of the tank to doing anything with aquascaping, cleaning the sand, etc. This issue I have now with Nitrates has kind of pushed me over the edge. I want something I can completely access the tank with. I was originally planning on building an aluminum frame, and changing out the 400W Luminarc full reflectors with 250W Luminarc Mini reflectors, and having 4 - 6 either 54W or 80W T5s (2 or 3 front and back). The more I looked at it (aside for the weight factor, I need something I can hang from the ceiling to solve the access issue), it looks like the retro will cost over $1K. Then I went by Aquatek this weekend. Their display tank is looking awesome right now, due to according to Bruce, someone consistently using the Reef Refresh on it. Since I'm ramping up on the NeoZeo system right now (same thing really), I talked to Bruce and Steve about the fixture they had. It turns out that its a simple Sunlight Supply 2 X 250W - 2 X T5 fixture. I was thinking if they could get that kind of results with that fixture, why am I looking at spending over a $1K with the retrofit. A fixture would be the same or cheaper (depending on which fixture I ultimately got), much faster, and a lot less hassle. Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefman Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 Mhart or others, any ideas or opinions. I would love to hear any input about the fixture (or other fixtures) or other ideas about the retrofit if you have them. Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellaireoaks Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 (edited) Reefman, I bought the same light you mention. It is working fine. I bought it about 5 months ago. The light is not as bright now so I guess I need to buy new MH bulbs. Edited September 3, 2009 by bellaireoaks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefman Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 Bellaireoaks, Are you using the bulbs that came with it, or did you change it out? Do you have any heat issues - does the fixture get real hot? Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhart032 Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 The elos tanks are rimless if I remember right. So that's diffacult for any lighting that's not hanging. What about coming up from the back in the tank with a light bar of sorts? Then you can make an aliuminum rack over the tank like you suggested if you used hollow tub and pop rivits you could run you wireing through the tubes out the back you could make a stand using aluminum as well for the stand, so from the floor you would have 2 bars coming up the back of the tank then attatch or bend them to go over the tank then attactch the light bar to it with some nice cable or attach it directly to the frame of the stand then run all your wireing through the tubes for a clean industrial look. Not to mention you could use what you have already as far as your lighting equipment. You could even use a buffer to buff the frame and polish it for a shiny nice finish. I think this is what I would do. Then you wouldn't cover the nice rimless feature that the elos tanks have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellaireoaks Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 Bellaireoaks, Are you using the bulbs that came with it, or did you change it out? Do you have any heat issues - does the fixture get real hot? Stephen I use the bulbs that came with it. It does get hot so I bought 2x4 fans to keep it cool. Temp around 80-81 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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