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cyano

ReefGeek.com partial review + new T5 bulbs: to be continued...

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cyano
, 11-23-2011 at 09:00 AM (3245 Views)
So as anyone who read my last Blog knows I Recently ordered some new T5 bulbs from ReefGeek.com seeing as I am unable to buy any quality bulbs locally. Placing the order was simple and painless and the pricing was good. Immediately after placing the order I received a phone call from ReefGeek to notify me that 3 of the bulbs I had ordered were not currently in stock and they offered to replace the bulbs ordered with some comparable ones that were actually a more expensive bulb at no extra cost (they were out of the blue plus in ati and offered to swap them with blue plus in KZ.) I accepted that offer and found the customer service to be quite endearing and knowledgeable also they keep a record of the most popular bulb combinations ordered as a reference for other customers.

Click image for larger version Name: DSCN5954.JPG Views: 243 Size: 208.0 KB ID: 6617The packaging was perfect for shipping bulbs in and as I have had bad experiences with bulb shipments in the past I was very pleased with the way they did itClick image for larger version Name: DSCN5958.JPG Views: 209 Size: 210.9 KB ID: 6620Click image for larger version Name: DSCN5959.JPG Views: 222 Size: 205.9 KB ID: 6621Click image for larger version Name: DSCN5960.JPG Views: 237 Size: 200.3 KB ID: 6622they also sent a bumper sticker and candy with the order Click image for larger version Name: DSCN5955.JPG Views: 228 Size: 204.9 KB ID: 6618Click image for larger version Name: DSCN5956.JPG Views: 234 Size: 211.0 KB ID: 6619but as I was opening it up and inspecting it all I realized there had been a mistake and 4 purple plus bulbs were sent instead of 3 blue plus and one purple plus I have yet to be able to contact them back this morning due to the time difference (they are based out of California and I live in Georgia) which is why this is a partial review that I will add on to later today when we get to see how it is handled (personally I don't mind so much just buying 3 new bulbs and keeping the purple, that just means I don't have to order purple again for a few years.)

Since I HAD to have lights in my tank and the old ones I refused to place back in the fixture I installed the 4 Purple plus along with the blue special and the 6500 daylight that came in with my order here is the before picture (that was with auto white balance.)Click image for larger version Name: DSCN5957.JPG Views: 252 Size: 207.5 KB ID: 6623Here is the after pictures and might I say the colors do in fact "pop" much better with the better quality bulbs and with more light than they had previously Click image for larger version Name: DSCN5962.JPG Views: 221 Size: 207.8 KB ID: 6624Click image for larger version Name: DSCN5963.JPG Views: 217 Size: 221.9 KB ID: 6625Click image for larger version Name: DSCN5964.JPG Views: 247 Size: 219.5 KB ID: 6626Like I stated earlier I will continue this review in the comments section below and in the meantime enjoy what I have

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‎ Lighting

Comments

  1. cyano's Avatar
    Well I just got off the phone with George from ReefGeek.com and they offered to send me new ones if I returned the incorrect ones. Unfortunately my old lights that I removed are far from good so I told George that I have no problem just ordering three more Blue Plus and keeping the Purple Plus since I would be ordering them eventually anyway. He apologized for the inconvenience on numerous occasions and was nothing but polite. I placed my order for 3 more Blue Plus from ATI and they are paying the shipping cost, subtracting 5% off of the bulbs in the cost, and is sending me a T-Shirt. So all in all I will definitely be using REEFGEEK.com again for my lighting needs and would recommend them to anyone. The customer service alone is beyond anything I have experienced with any other company!
  2. chuck's Avatar
    glad to hear it all worked out good for you I will keep them in mind for my future needs
  3. Hat39406's Avatar
    The color change in ya tank looks great Cyano. Big difference!
  4. cyano's Avatar
    thx hat still a little too purple for me so the blue specials should be here Monday and I can get a better mix of colors but it is a HUGE difference in person, the pictures do them no justice.

    @chuck please do I was blown away with the service, there was a little snafu but everyone makes mistakes and they were more than willing to make up for it, even after I told them "I had installed them before I noticed the mix up" George said "It doesn't matter, we screwed up let me try to make it right"

    Being that A. my other combination wasn't giving my corals full light
    B. I did a massive light fixture cleaning while changing them out
    and C. I was running my lights a little long anyway
    I have as of this morning cut the Lighting time down to 8 hours total including an hour dawn and an hour dusk which depending on how my corals react to the new combination will gradually get cranked back up to 9-10 hours daily including dusk/dawn

    one question though are there and adverse affects to running so many purple plus? considering most people may run one depending on their set up. stress on corals? increased algae growth? wrong spectrum? I will only be running this many till the next order comes in so it shouldn't do any irreversible damage in that time but just curious.
  5. Robb in Austin's Avatar
    Wow! Great customer service!

    Tank looks good too.