Aro and pfo retro vho lights... - Anyone have any input about them?

M

MLACAZE

[I am about to order new lights for my tank and I have come down to the ARO (from Champion Lighting) and PFO (Marine Depot) retro kits for 4-48" VHO T12.

They are both $168. Neither come with bulbs, no big deal.

I plan on using 2 each URI actinic white and URI Super Actinic.

The ARO has a nice reflector and comes fully assembled.

The PFO does not have a reflector, BUT the ballast has independant power cords for each set of lights. That would be nice for turning on the Blue lights independant of the others.

If anyone has any experience with these please let me know.

Tank is 75G.

Thanks,
Mike]
 
[I have ARO PC ballasts that work fine, but run very very hot. And I have PFO ballasts that run my MH and are warm to the touch.

That's all I know. Besides PFO is a well-known brand with good customer support.]
 
[Thanks Marc,

I am not worried about heat because I am going to remote mount the ballast in the tank stand. I am more concerned with good customer support and a reliable product.

What is your opinion on non-reflecter bulbs vs built in reflecter bulbs.

I am leaning towards the PFO unit because of the seperate power cords VS the ARO with the built in reflecter.]
 
[Hi Mike! I have the Aro setup and like it just fine. I ordered mine from HelloLights who didnt have the best customer support the last time I called though :-(
If they are the same price I would probably order the Pfo just for the separate switches.
Im also using the URI bulbs but I would like to see the corallife 10k and true 03. I am ordering these next just to see how they look. Im not sure if I like the built in bulb reflectors or not, but I havent used VHOs that dont have them so...
Can you order a reflector from champion to compliment the retro kit?]
 
[I've used URI bulbs with internal reflectors and was very happy with them. And I also used the Home Depot 6500K daylight bulbs, but I have an IceCap ballast and it will overdrive Normal Output bulbs.

I don't know if PFO or ARO can do that.]
 
[Thanks for the input.

I can always add a reflecter if I wanted. It would be much more difficult to seperate power on the single ballast.

Amanda, did you see the race this weekend? If Kasey Kane was going faster he would not have been hit from behind! :uhoh:]
 
[Did you notice how sincere he was in victory lane. No burn out, no victory lap. He did not even get real excited when he got out of his car. You could tell he was bummed about the wreck. Hopefully now that he has a win he will calm down some and get the media off his back. If that had been any other driver that wrecked Kane it would not be a big deal.

On the other hand...for all those Jr fans...at least he did not create his own caution and then talk about it openly on the radio. That was just a dumb move.

Good to hear from you again!]
 
[
I am not worried about heat because I am going to remote mount the ballast in the tank stand. said:
Just a FYI cause most people don't think about it...

Heat in the stand = heat in the tank, especially with a sump/fuge setup. You may want to put it outside the stand instead.]
Click to expand...
 
[I have several ARO ballast running several VHO systems. I have nothing but good to say about them. Ballast heat...non issue here! Customer service...cant speak for others but I have found it to be outstanding in no uncertain terms.

Case 1
My 160 watt VHO that was about 60 days old caught my canopy on fire! Luckily I was running about 5 minutes late getting out the door. Arson investigators (buddy's of mine)couldnt find any real reason for the fire. There were no flaws in assembly, materials used, or my installation of the retro which is identical as the 4 other systems I am currently running. Hello lights fedex'ed 2 new 160 watt bulbs and 2 sets of end caps free, no hassels, no arguing or anything, all in the name of getting me back in operation! Now that to me is cusomer service.

Case 2
One of my ballast malfunctioned after 11 months of hard operation (18 hours a day). They sold me one and re-credited my credit card when I sent them the bad one. All I paid was a few dollars shipping for mailing the old one back. Again, no questions no hassles.

As such I am about to do about 2000.00 plus in buisness with them on two 96" x 30" x 12" frag grow-out tanks I am setting up. In addition I just scored a 240 gallon tank for about 1/2 price that will need halides and VHO's, as well as a 300 gallon sump that will need at least two halides added to it before the years end.

The only experience that I have with PFO is 1 x dual 400 watt halide ballast and 1 single 400 watt ballast. Thats it. And it gets hot enough to the touch that I run a 12 inch fan on medium setting to cool it off

Thats just my take on this. Your "milage" may vary to one degree or another. It is your tank and it is your decsion, JMHE....]
 
[It was good chatting with you a bit! I thought youd gone off into hiding :)

Let us know what you decide on the lights.]
 
[Still here Amanda. Have not been posting much, but read the boards each day. My wife lost her job about 6 weeks ago and that has had me kinda bummed out. I am going through major spending withdrawels. Have been slowly converting my tank to a full reef. Lost my prized Yello Tang a few weeks ago. It was fat, really deep yellow, NO Ick...I put some mushrooms in the tank and it was going crazy over the new peice of rock, eating all kind of stuff off of it...2 hours later it was dead. Bummer.

I now have an awesome Powder Blue. Always wanted one, once again, fat, No ick, deep colors...Let's hope for a better ending.]
 
[Wow Mike Im sorry to hear that. Hopefully she will find something she likes doing soon!
That yellow tang thing is interesting, I wonder what would have caused something so quickly. Ill bet those darned shrooms are fine! :-(
I love powder blue's, really stunning fish! Hopefully he will stay fat and healthy for you!]
 
[Man, I saw a bunch of Powder Blues today when I got our raffle items, and wondered if my Hippo would have a cow if I dropped one in my 55g. :devil2:

Such gorgeous creatures, but most report poor success in keeping them.]
 
[I've had it for 2 weeks now, all is going good. It got a few spots of ICK after a few days, could have been just Southdown particles on it, don't know. No spots now. It eat cheto that I put in the tank from the fuge ALL day. I am more worried it's belly will explode more than anything else.]
 
[Fat tangs are happy tangs. Keep up the good work, and take lots of pictures. They are one of my favorite tangs.]
 
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