JBJ Lighting vs. Custom Sealife?

[cass546]

Has any one had a bad experience with jbj lighting? Is it worth the extra $ to go with custom sealife?

 

[troyrb]

I have a JBJ light with 2 55wattt PC's and I don't like it much. It is not designed with heat in mind. It is not ventilated enough and the plexi glass shield started to melt after only a couple days of use. The only thing good about my JBJ light is that the housing is very compact. I don't know anything about the Custom Sealife light but I has to be better then my experience with my JBJ lighting.

 

[myreef]

I have a JBJ dual 65 watt retro and one of the PC bulbs died after about 3 months. JBJ replaced it free of charge. Depending how much more the CSL is....you might want to use them however. I am not 100% sold on JBJ, even though I have had no real problems. I almost bought a quad 55 watt PC from CSL, wish I had. HTH

 

[JohnD]

I have a Custom Sealife PC - 2 65watt bulbs and am very happy with it. One bulb is an 8800K and the other is an Ultra-Actinic. The unit was on sale at FFE for about $210 (I am not exactly sure of the price) in the spring.

 

[Anonymous]

We bought a couple of units from them at a trade show. We sold one, a 4 x 55 48" setup. Customer called me back this week after running the unit for about 2-3 months. The fans had started to give out and one of the bulbs is dim.

So I can't say I'm overly impressed with the quality, however the customer service is first rate, they are shipping me a replacement unit and I will be swapping it out with my customer.

 

[Anonymous]

I have the JBJ 4 x 55 watt fixture. I like it ..the one I have hangs from the ceiling and can be raised/lowered to do maintenance. No melting problem. The only thing I didn't care for was the color of the actintic lights that came with the fixture. I swapped them out with bulbs I got from lampsnow.com.

 

[srbayless]

Howdy,

I don't think the Custom SeaLife fixtures are that much more than the JBJ ones. You definitely have to buy the CSL fixtures from an online vendor, most LFS charge alot for them.

I have several CSL PC setups, everything from a retrofit 2x55w to a 6x96w retrofit kit and all of them have worked flawlessly. I have never owned a JBJ fixture, but I have heard more negative comments about them than CSL.

I would definitely go with CSL if the price difference is less then $100. I checked out the JBJ fixtures when I first started looking at PC lights. I wasn't impressed with the workmanship or quality. I got the impression that JBJ fixtures were made out of cheap plastic and flimsy aluminum.

I would rather pay more for a product that is built well and will last longer. So go for the CSL, you won't be dissapointed.

Scott.

 

[Alex1]

Here is a big difference. JBJ has a 13 month warrantee on the bulbs and fixtures. This can be done through the LFS you bought the light from.

Custom sea life does not have that. Example we just had a customer that had a custom sea life bulb fail after 3 months and he can not get a replacement for it because the bulbs are not on a warrantee!!!

Alex

 

[jemichaeliv]

I am using the 4x55w JBJ lighting and the 4x96w Custom Sealife

I have no complaints with either. If money is a issue go with JBJ as they are a little cheaper I got my 4x55w fixture with bulbs for $199 at my LFS.

John

 

[Joey1]

I have a 4x55 jbj fixture myself and have had no problems....

Joey

 

[Fishbreath]

I have a 2x55 jbj light on my 60 gal. Works good (since early April). I have a fan that provides air flow under my canopy to remove heat from the lights. The nice thing about the jbj fixture is it is very thin and easily fits inside most canopies but the fixture gets hot without a fan. Interesting note about the fan...the little DC fans are too noisy in my opinion. I purchased a very quiet AC "6 in personal fan" at a local hardware supply store. This is the type of fan people buy for their office cubical at work. It won't fit under the canopy so I put it under the tank and directed the airflow up the back of the tank, so air blows up between the wall and the back of the tank. I then placed a deflector behind the canopy to redirect the air away from the wall and into the canopy. Lastly, I keep the canopy pulled forward slightly so that there is about a 0.5 in gap in the front of the tank for the air flow to escape. Bottom line, keep the lights cool and with a little effort you won't hear the fan.

Steve