fishneedit? should i?

im looking at the 4bulb t5 fixture for my 40 breeder. how good are these lights?

 

Flat reflector and no active cooling, not too good. I would use it on a refugium for algae.

 

the reflectors are a single reflector just bent around the bulb, and as for cooling i mean tek's doent have fans and they work fine

 

The Tek lights have a passive cooling system with vents on top, so cooler air from below flows over the bulbs and keeps them at a decent temperature. The lights from fishneedit don't have such a system, as far as I can tell. Just aesthetic vents on the sides.

If you'll notice, the Tek Elites do have active cooling, as that's preferred. You don't want T5s running too hot, as it'll decrease the life of the bulb faster. As in, you'll get 9 months where I get 18, if it's severe enough.

Tek lights also have individual (or individually bent) reflectors, which is a serious performance enhancer. Parabolic are where it's at. That flat stuff isn't nearly as good.

Fishneedit seems to be a cheap way out, but you're not getting nearly the same thing as you would get with a Tek or similar high quality fixture. You'd likely need a 6 or 8 bulb fishneedit style fixture to match a 4 bulb from Tek or ATI.