Deep Blue Lighting Fixtures

[that fish guy]

I am looking to purchase 2 48 inch T5HO lighting fixtures. The fish store by me sells a brand called Deep Blue. I did some research online and I can't find anything on them. The store by me pushes the Deep Blue lighting fixtures and swears by them. They even stopped carrying other big name brands because they love these lights so much. I do not want to purchase anything extremely expensive, since they are going on FOWLR tanks. If any one knows about this lighting brand please give me so feedback. I would really like to buy these light fixtures tomorrow. Thanks for your help!

 

[CrAzY cOrAlS]

size tank?

 

[D1J8Z]

if its going to be a fish only tank why night just buy the cheapest and most cost efficient light. I would look for a used fixture. Remember you dont have to buy a used saltwater light you can buy a freshwater light bc your not growing coral.

 

[that fish guy]

Well i have some expensive fish in there and I want them to look nice. I am happy with T5HOs so I want to continue with them. I have a 12 bulb T5HO on my reef and I like the look. The only thing is I have an expensive light fixture on there and I dont want to spend the money on this light just for color. Thats why when I saw the Deep Blue at my local fish store I was going to get them. They arent very expensive and they told me good things. I just like researching what I am buying and I could not find one thing about the light.

 

[D1J8Z]

you dont need expensive lighting for a fish to look good.

 

[m'akoyPINOY]

what kind of expensive fish you got?

 

[KathyC]

what kind of expensive fish you got?

lol


I never heard of them and nothing comes up on a Google search.
Which store carries these - maybe someone is familiar with them from seeing them at the store and not by brand name?

 

[lfsmarineguy]

Deep Blue is a new product line from one of the major pet product suppliers. It's their own brand they are using to replace/compete with some of the other major product lines they carry. Everything from tanks to lights and some other stuff. For the price it's not terrible entry level stuff and as with any T5 fixture you can always swap out for better bulbs. The tanks aren't half bad and they all have black silicone. The Deep Blue stuff is a less expensive option, but it is still new and the long term quality still remains to be seen, but I haven't heard of any major problems yet.

 

[that fish guy]

Thank you ifsmarineguy... you are the only one who answered my question!

 

[lfsmarineguy]

In all fairness I'm one of the only ones who has that kind of info. I don't think they are really pushing it with the hobbyists yet but they seem to be trying some price penetration with the stores.

 

[NYreefNoob]

my lfs is carring their stuff also, tanks do look good, adamt's new tank is from them, the light why not just buy a fw light and add 50\50 bulbs

 

[LongIslandAndy]

Hi
I run the Deep Blue 48" HO on my 120 gallon FOWLR and think they are great. I also run their 24" on a 15G nano reef and they provide plenty of light and good colors. The only downside IMHO is you have to manually control(separate switches) the actinic and day light bulbs.

 

[aznt1217]

Why not consider low power LED's?

These are really cheap and provide a better look than the T5's IMO. I had used low power LED's both Blue and White on a 55 Gallon FOWLR. The Tube only cost me 65 Dollars and provide more than enough light and I still got that awesome shimmer. My fish looked fantastic under it.

 

[adamt]

like reefnoob said I recently got one of the deep blue tanks. Its solid as a rock. I know the center brace isnt really necessary but atleast the one they use is sturdy. Imo it is a way nicer tank than aqueon, and since it is relatively new alot of stores are doing ipo's at really reduced rates. I also have one of their two bulb fixtures that I use for dawn and dusk. Two weeks in I have no probs to report, I did swap out the bulbs. It seems like they put alot of consideration into the design of the fixture: vho style end caps, independant switches, and 6 led moonlights all lead me to believe that they know what people want, and are offering it at entry level prices. It lacks a certain "solidness" that higher end fixtures have but overall I am very happy with it because it is exactly what I expected for the price, a decent low end t5 ho light fixture.

One minor complaint (and its not even really a complaint) with the fixture is the bulbs are crap. To get the price point they were looking for they had to cut quality somewhere and the bulbs is where they choose to do it. Which is 100% cool with me cus I never planned on using them anyway. I have a feeling they new most users would toss the bulbs. As a stand alone unit its prolly fine for fowlr's and softie/lps tanks but if you plan on keeping any higher light demand stuff the bulbs HAVE to go.

 

[TOTAL AQUARIUMS]

Deep Blue is a new product line from one of the major pet product suppliers. It's their own brand they are using to replace/compete with some of the other major product lines they carry. Everything from tanks to lights and some other stuff. For the price it's not terrible entry level stuff and as with any T5 fixture you can always swap out for better bulbs. The tanks aren't half bad and they all have black silicone. The Deep Blue stuff is a less expensive option, but it is still new and the long term quality still remains to be seen, but I haven't heard of any major problems yet.

Agreed.

 

[TripleT]

Bought the 48" fixture a couple of months ago. For the price I have no complaints.


Pros:

Price... hard to beat ~$250 for a brand new fixture with these features.

Looks... I think this is a great looking fixture.

Programmable, no need for a controller or timers.

Moonlights look great.

Major upgrade over my 15 year old fixture... my fish and rock look 10x better.


Cons:

The bulbs it came with had my tank looking white/yellow. I replaced 3 of them immediately with "bluer" bulbs. Not much of a con since I'm sure I'd do the same with many other fixtures.

Programming is tricky. The buttons are hard to push, and you need to decode the blinking LED's to determine what action you are programming. Since this is a one time setup, it's no big deal.

The moonlights are on 24/7, with no option to turn off. At first this bothered me and my fish, but I see they have definitely adjusted to it. A had a clown that didn't sleep for a couple of nights, until he found a new, darker sleeping spot in the tank.


More info:

You can program when bulbs 1 and 3 turn on/off, and bulbs 2 and 4.

The fans do not run silent, but they are not very noticeable over the sounds of pumps, skimming, etc.