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Tigger
12-23-2009, 04:59 PM
Has anybody bought from Aqua Traders before? I am considering buying the Odyssea 48" 216W (4x54W) T5 HO Light for $109. It even comes with the bulbs, Moon lights and a timer. Are these good lights? The price seems good, but I am not sure about the quality. Does anybody want to combine orders and split the shipping?

http://shop.aquatraders.com

FitoPharmer
12-24-2009, 02:27 AM
i always hear Odyssea ballasts are notoriously cheap and prone to failure whenever aqua traders gets brought up in a post for buying cheap lighting. i have also heard they are rather dim for their wattage even when they are working fine. IMO i would stay away, for me it falls into the "too good to be true category" :mrgreen: but then again i do remember they were always talking about the odyssea MH ballasts, maybe their t-5 systems are better.

muck
12-24-2009, 02:33 AM
There were reports of some of these units even catching fire a few years back.

Ryan
12-24-2009, 03:36 AM
There were reports of some of these units even catching fire a few years back.

I have heard the same thing.

Eb0la11
12-24-2009, 06:58 AM
Ouch.

Red Coral Aquariums
12-24-2009, 07:07 AM
I have been running the 4 bulb HO T5's on 4 of my softy tanks for going on 16 months without a bit of problem. The bulbs that come with them are cheap and I replaced them out with a kz coral 10k, kz new gen 15k, kz fiji purple, and a D+D aticnic +. My corals are doing excellent.
Kevin

SeaHorse_Fanatic
12-24-2009, 07:50 AM
Yeah, I've heard that you basically buy it for the unit (at least the MH models). Replace the ballasts & bulbs. Doesn't seem like such a good deal after all, IMO.

These T5s though are not in the same crappy category as the old "fire hazard" mh units.

Anthony

ScubaSteve
12-24-2009, 08:13 AM
Ya, I almost went the Aquatraders direction as well recently to start my second tank (you know, being a poor PhD student and all...). I was looking at the MH mostly and those seem to be not of the best quality. The t5's on the other hand I have heard some decent things about and, like they said above, switch to better bulbs. The one thing about the t5 units, and someone please correct me if I am wrong, is that they don't have reflectors, thus your output is not as stellar as it could be.

For the same price point but maybe a little better try the Fishneedit units (http://www.fishneedit.com/t5ho-ligh.html). I've heard good things about them. They've got reflectors and everything.

If you have a friend in the states or access to a PO box, try Amazon of all places. They have retardly cheap deals on good lights from time to time... they don't ship to Canada though.

Finally, ask around this site. I got a wicked MH system from someone here for a good price and I could not be happier (It's a little overkill... but hey, go big or go home, right?). I'm sure there is someone with some lights for sale... right guys and gals?

fishytime
12-24-2009, 01:22 PM
The T5 units do indeed have reflectors....not individual like a tek, though....the only issue with ordering them from the states is, if there is a problem with the light, you will have to send the unit back at your expense....

bumper
12-25-2009, 12:52 AM
Just received before Christmas a few things from aquatraders. Couldn't help myself! A great experience with the LED light, they're submersible and they bring out the florescence in my zoas and blastos! The 4 x 54W T5HO Pro fixture was bumped or otherwise during shipping. The timer wasn't working. So they sent a new ballast and timer, with a deposit, when the originals were returned, the deposit was refunded. Not bad... Quite happy with the service, but it may take a few phone calls. The reflector is one that wraps all four bulbs together.

muck
12-25-2009, 01:19 AM
Welcome to Canreef bumper!

You should post a few pics of the underwater LEDs.

Seamazter
12-25-2009, 06:15 AM
If your a local Albertan buy them from red coral, they have a few in stock still i think, 3 foot and 4 foot.
Then you shouldn't need to worry about the expense of shipping and duty from the usa, plus Redcoral will honor their warrantee withing reason.

mitchelljared
12-25-2009, 06:56 AM
We actually bought the same fixture from E-Bay as well, the Odyssea 48" 4X54 Watt T5's with 4 LED Moonlight...it works great, quieter than any fixture we've had before. It's hilarious to hear about people talking about fire hazards and all that from information they heard or might have read about more than a few years old...where's all the fear in the Coralife lighting? Anyway...the unit seems cheaper because it is, but it works.

Ryan
12-25-2009, 03:12 PM
We actually bought the same fixture from E-Bay as well, the Odyssea 48" 4X54 Watt T5's with 4 LED Moonlight...it works great, quieter than any fixture we've had before. It's hilarious to hear about people talking about fire hazards and all that from information they heard or might have read about more than a few years old...where's all the fear in the Coralife lighting? Anyway...the unit seems cheaper because it is, but it works.

I dont know about you but I dont see very many people using coralife lighting anymore unless there is an old used fixture someone is selling cheap.

vaporize
12-25-2009, 10:15 PM
The common problem with aquatraders seems to be their customer service is lacking and people said that the stuff come failing (bulbs broken, not firing etc.) Customer services cannot be reach or do nothing. I tried contact them twice, first time was very fast turn around (in 3 hrs); second time is totally ignored (it's been 2 weeks, so don't think they will reply); if you check RC, it's the common issue.

Being in Canada with all the custom taxes and shipping, if you guys have a local LFS like Red Coral that is carrying that and handling the initial troubleshooting, it's definitely well worth paying 10-20% to more than the online ordering prices to have that peace of mind.