best website (price & reliability of site) to buy lights

[finfan]

i was wondering what is the best website for purchasing lights, i am looking for a site that has competetive pricing and is a reliable site (credit card, shipping etc is reliable)

also, is there any lfs (including petco, petsmart etc.) that is a good source of lights?  has good price?

i am basically looking for a 24" lighting unit for my 24L*12W*24T tank, i am looking for good output since i want to grow plants

i saw a coralife 65watt unit at petco - it was priced at about ~80, would that be a good fit?

[MJY6087]

Re: best website (price & reliability of site) to buy li

I have a 24 inch lightstrip/tops (complete hood) brown colored (flourescent) ill sell for 20 bucks

oh i see, you just want a 24" light, sorry!

[screename]

Re: best website (price & reliability of site) to buy li

What kind of plants?  65 watts is not going to go a long way if it has to penetrate the 24 inch height.  Thats a very tall tank.  You might want to upgrade to a 2x65 coralife.  Bigalsonline probably has the best online prices.  You might have to wait a little longer but they are reliable from what Ive heard.  Their prices are pretty much the best.  Looks like they are sold out of the 24" 65 watt one but I if I remember correctly, they had it priced at $54.99.  

Here is the 2x65 watt model

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18369/si1383183/cl0/coralifefreshwateraqualight242x65watt

[J-WS6]

Re: best website (price & reliability of site) to buy li

https://www.hellolights.com

https://www.championlighting.com

[eklikewhoa]

Re: best website (price & reliability of site) to buy li

I would look through the market here and on Marshreef.com for some used coralife.

[Mzungu]

Re: best website (price & reliability of site) to buy li

I agree that if you can find it around Houston used, from here or MARSHReef or something like that, you can get a great deal.

However, sometimes you just wanna order it new, understandable.  8)

I have ordered lights from Champion Lighting, Big Al's, Aquatraders, Aquabuys, and Drs. Foster & Smith. I would recommend all but Aquatraders (still having problems from an order placed in October...). I've never had a problem with Big Al's shipping, although I've heard a few complaints. Champion Lighting was great, and Drs. F&S has no complaints from me at all, although sometimes you can find things a bit cheaper elsewhere. I've also heard good things about MarineDepot.

Good luck!

[geoff_tropheus]

Re: best website (price & reliability of site) to buy li

I like Marine Depot a lot.  Foster and SMith is number 1 in customer service by far, and whenever I had a problem with them, they took care of it immediately.  Marine Depot took some time.

I have used these people before to some success.

http://www.catalinaaquarium.com/index.php?cPath=71&osCsid=712d4249002576bcda6d63d4ca9c6a91

I have also used these guys and they had good service.  This is where I purchased my T5 Lights from.

http://www.petmeister.com/cat5_1.htm

Personally, I would use Dr.Foster and Smith as Number 1, then check used equipment.  Used equipment does have shortfalls.

You never know how well the fixture was taken care of, or how corroded the connections are, and how old the bulbs are.  IF you get a used fixture that you have to get new bulbs, new wiring, or even a new ballast, you should just go get a new one.

Take care,

gEoff

[finfan]

Re: best website (price & reliability of site) to buy li

thanks guys for the great advise

[screename]

Re: best website (price & reliability of site) to buy li

Geoff, how did you like that catalina light system?  Any cons or pros you can tell us about?

[geoff_tropheus]

Re: best website (price & reliability of site) to buy li

So far I like it alot, but the 10K bulb it came with already needs replaced, which is ok.  I plan to get Giesemann bulbs 10K and a powerchrome which are the best out there, and should not be any issue once I get them installed.

The Catalina comes with a 5-year ballast warranty, and the fixture is ever bit as nice as my Coralife PC lights in terms of looks and durabilty.  It is hard to compare 80W 60" T5 bulbs to 65W powercompacts, but both fixtures are nice.

I would recomned getting the moutning legs also, because I used to put the fixture directly ontop of my glass tops and it cracked one half of them.

If you can spend the money, I would also get fans for them becuase it runs a little hot.  The guy at Petmeister sells Catalina fixtures for a little bit better than they price them on their site.

Geoff

[edkrueger]

Re: best website (price & reliability of site) to buy li

I'd go with http://houstonfishbox.com/ but sometimes the stock is limited.

[Drew]

Re: best website (price & reliability of site) to buy li

http://ahsupply.com/

Had a good experience buying from these guys last October.  Purchased 2 ballasts, reflectors and wiring setup for a 4 X 96W power compact fluorescent set up at a reasonable price.