Marineland Pro Lights ISSUE!!?!?!??!?!

[phastroh]

So I have had these lights for about 2 months running with brand new bulbs given to me by Marineland. The light itself was just under a year old when I got it so it was still under warranty.

I just noticed last night left left side of the tank looked dim. I bend down and look and one of the T5's was out(blue) I have all 8 Actinic bulbs.

So I decide to shut the T5's to see if somehow it just needs a wiggle. I shut the T5's but I noticed it still looks dim. Now mind you the MH bulbs have been on for about 3 hours.

I take a look at the MH bulbs and the outside 2 on both sides are looking a little dim. I am like WTH. So I slide open the cover and wiggle the T5 and it falls out because I turned it. I was like UGhhh with no-one to help lift this huge light.

So I look back at the MH bulbs and they are fully lit.

I emailed Marineland because now I am scared to leave home with this thing running and by the way the T5 that is out was one of the original T5s that was out in the first place.

Something has to be messed up inside. I have had no issues with the MH or the T5 till now. I only think it has to be something because the same T5 is out that was out when I got it.

Anyone?

 

[chuck78]

That bites & I don't blame you for not wanting to leave it alone. I wish I knew a what to tell you man, but it's strange that you created this post b/c just 2 days ago my LFS friend here in charleston was telling me that he had 5 ppl return their Marineland light fixtures over the course of two weeks & advised me to stay away from their lighting products. I don't know if they were pro series or not b/c the conversation never got that far. If you're able to return it...get rid of it...that's what I would do. Good Luck

 

[phastroh]

Well the thing is that it ran for about a year and blew the T5's.

T5 bulbs lose intensity and should be turning off that fast.

I am glad you posted that, thanks man.

 

[phastroh]

Ok so check this out.

I called to the center where they had sent me the free light bulbs and they transfered me to the center who deals with the units.

So the guy was really cool and he and I talked about tanks and reefing for a while because he does it too.

So he needs the serial number from me so they can send out a tech to fix it.

I tell him that the paper the stick on the light had crumbled away but I had to give it to the lady at the light bulbs center so they could verify when it was bought. So he tells me he is going to email her back.


I have been waiting since last Thursday.

So I decided to call back to where the lady is because I broke my new iPhone and lost his number and my Droid X doesn't have it. So I call and get the same lady on the phone and she says she never asked me for the serial number and does not have it and told him.

Right away I am f-ing pissed off to the max. She took my serial number and is lying to me right now. A bold face lie. I specifically remember her telling me that with no receipt they can track when it was purchased and give an extra 3 months due to shelf life at the store.

I also specifically remember having to guess at one of the letters on the serial paper and she figured it out by trying both of the possible letters it was.

Well today on the phone after lying about it she then tells me they don't require the serial number to be able to send out the bulbs.

So basically anyone can call up and request free bulbs from Marineland no matter what light you have. I guess they just give out free bulbs, so anyone who needs bulbs just call up Marineland and they will send them right out to you with no proof you even have the lighting system from them. The lady just said they do not require the serial number nor a receipt.

WHAT A DUMB THING TO SAY TO ME.

Right now I am waiting for the guy to call me back. I actually look forward to explaining to him that she sent me a full set of bulbs without even making sure I owned a fixture from Marineland and letting him know that I guess that means anyone can just dial up Marineland and get themselves free bulbs.

I am curious to hear his reaction to that one because I do not think the management will be happy to hear what she did.

The truth is that I did not have a receipt and she took the serial number from me to verify I owned the light system.

 

[Northstar24]

Honestly I wasn't that impressed with the bulbs in my Marineland fixture. While free is a good price, I think you'd be better off replacing the bulbs Marineland ships the fixture with with some ATI bulbs from ReefGeek. I never messed around with my Marineland that much, I sold it and upgraded to LED's

 

[phastroh]

Yeah I would like to either get some 250MH's that Fast recommended but then I may have to get a strip or 2 or T5's or one day get LED's.

It is just there are so many LED's out there and with the corals I have who knows what I need.

I have 2 Acros and a Pocillopora Coral that take high lighting. Even my Aussie Worm needs good lighting so I wouldn't even know where to begin with LED's and then have to deal with the corals adjusting to them.

How did you get the corals ready for the LED's and all that.

I have a 220Gal - See Pix here - https://www.livingreefs.com/getting-these-2-new-corals-today-t37067.html

 

[Northstar24]

If i remember right, the marineland pro system used 150 Watt halides, you cant just toss a 250 watt halide bulb into that fixture - you'd have to swap the ballasts out

There are indeed a lot of LED fixtures on the market, I did a LOT of research before I bought mine, but I have been very happy

Getting the corals ready for LED's was simple. I started my LED fixtures at 25% and ramped them up by 5% a week. (This was after setting them to 50% initially and buring some acropora that I had)

Anything newly added at this point spends a week or so on the bottom of the tank, then gets moved to where I want it. I'm also lucky though, my LFS keeps most of its corals under LED, so they're already used to it more or less

 

[phastroh]

Yeah I meant buying 3 new 250 Watt MH ballasts.

There are a few places that use LEDs for their corals but I have resigned to purchasing most of my corals exclusively from Live Aquaria.

I like the Divers Den and I almost never look for frags anymore. I have a few frags and some have grown quite a bit in the last 2 months. My Frog Spawn and Hammer have doubled in size but they grow at a decent rate anyway.

I know Live Aquaria uses 400Watt MH for their photos and in the videos there are MH's hanging with other bulbs. They do tell you but I can't recall.

Either way I can't worry what they use of course I just have to keep using these Marineland lights till I can find and purchase LED's. They are not cheap so maybe for X-Mas heehehe for myself.