Which power compact is best??

[Sregnar35]

260W 48" setups are what I'm shopping for, but which brand??

JBJ

Custom Sealife

Coralife Aqualight

Any opinions??

[BrianH]

IMHO your ok with any of those brands. If you plan on putting these on top of a glass top I would make sure they come with legs and a fan. I would check out hellolights (http://www.hellolights.com) , they always have very competative prices and very good customer service.

Brian

[OrionGirl]

I got my Coralife's from hellolights--very pleased with them. The fans help keep the temp cool, and they are easy to maintain and use. The black/matte chrome look fits in well with my stand and canopy, as well.

I don't like the legs though--they look funny. I don't use them.

[Sregnar35]

Most pc hoods come with what's called a lens cover. Is that just glass or clear plastic protecting the bulbs from the water? If I buy a pc hood I will need to remove my current hood and I'll have nothing on top of my tank to protect the lights.

[OrionGirl]

Yep, that's what that is. In the Coralife one's, it's clear plastic. Mine are all on either glass covers or raised away from the surface of the tank--not sure how it will work if it's resting on the tank. You might need the legs.

[Sregnar35]

As long as it's safely covered, that's good. I found a 48" coralife aqualight with 4 65w bulbs, new in the box on ebay for $179, so I'm thinking seriously about getting it. Thanks for all the help...again!

[OrionGirl]

I am pretty sure I paid less than that for mine from hellolights...It was a while back, and I got a 36" one and some extra bulbs, too, but I think it was around $400 all together.

[Sregnar35]

The model comperable to this one on hellolights is $223.95, so I'll be saving $45 on ebay.

[widdledink]

just to throw this in the mix...

I just got a Custome Sea Life Smatlite fixture from Champion Lighting www.championlighting.com and have been very very satisfied. I got one in there "scratch and dent section of their Website and only paid $89.

The reserch I did showed that the CSL unit was actualy a bit brighter than the Coralife and you can put in any of CSL's 4-5 different bulbs into the fixture. CSL also has legs for their units but are abit shorter than Coralife's. Like the Coralife units, it has a plexi-glass cover to protect the lights from water and damage. The only thing I didn't like about the light are no fans to aid in cooling. Infact they don't req. putting the unit under a canopy without the use of fans to circulate the air around the unit.

As far as it being a scratch and dent item...the unit only had a small un-noticable dent on the top with no paint damage, but the box it came in was thrashed beyond belief. To be honest I would never have noticed it if I had not run my hand over the top just a few days ago to clean off some fallen flake food. No other problems with the light though.

IMHO it has exceeded my expectations and was worth every penny.

Hope this helps.

Grady

[slipknottin]

Personally Id go with a T5 setup. Bulbs last longer, and lights are brighter.

[Guy W]

I've got a Custom Sea Life and I don't like it at all. No built in cooling, no stands to lift it up off the tank. when i ordered it one bulb was broke. They sent me 88k bulbs intead of 10k bulbs...

over all i won't buy those lights again. My dad has coral lifes and I like them fairly well so far.

[Sregnar35]

The custom sealife setups I've seen have cooling fans and moonlite's. And for a 260w 48" setup it would cost about $225. This setup at champion lighting is $265

[LT1OwnzYou]

Like i have posted before, search Ebay for a seller by the name of AQUADEAL
I got a JEBO fixture from him. 220 watt... $99 shipped to my door with bulbs

He also had a 330watt fixture for $145 i believe...

PC Bulbs 4 for $29.99 actinic or 10k

I am very pleased with this seller... also had PT Skimmers, lights, filters, powerheads... check em out