Odyssea Metal Halide Review

[UnknownFish]

Ok I just read this entire thread and was hoping that someone wouldve posted some par #'s.

[unbreakable]

I got the 48" with 2x250w and the T5s, all the bulbs suck. I changed out the ballasts to a Sunlight Supply dual Galaxy. I'm going to see if I can purchase some used metal halides; the odyssea metal halides are real yellow

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by unbreakable

I got the 48" with 2x250w and the T5s, all the bulbs suck. I changed out the ballasts to a Sunlight Supply dual Galaxy. I'm going to see if I can purchase some used metal halides; the odyssea metal halides are real yellow

Why did you change out the ballasts? Were they putting out lower than 270w?

Yes, all the bulbs suck. The Phoenix 14k looks great in it though.

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by UnknownFish

Ok I just read this entire thread and was hoping that someone wouldve posted some par #'s.

If someone lets me borrow their PAR meter that can be done.

[newtank]

I have had the 72" for nearly a year, bought it used off of RC for $350 when it was only a few months old. I think its great, if the only difference is the reflectors and saved $700 then I'm pretty happy about that. The only issue I have is that the PC's won't fire on one side of fixture until the halides have warmed the fixture up, then all lights will fire. I'm waiting until I move this to my 265 to open it up and drill it out to ceiling mount, change the bulbs and replace the internal balasts. I have a lot of growth and love the shimmer lines, plus people slam the stock bulbs, but I think the white looks good, my corals are healthy (if they aren't too close to the top because the bulbs are too strong) plus replacement bulbs are $14, vs $70 or whatever. I'm not afraid to spend money on good equipment, I stopped counting at $6500 in just one year on misc fish junk, but I don't buy into you get what you pay for all the time, i know you can be penny wise and pound foolish, but it works both ways. Just look at those people who bought $5,000 LED fixtures only to have them crap out and not be supported a year latter. I'll cut corners where I can as long as my objectives are met. If your considering buying the 72" fixture, I say go for it, use the savings to buy the other gear that you thought you couldn't afford.
peace.

[DarG]

"if they aren't too close to the top because the bulbs are too strong"

It's not just the light radiating directly from the lamp itself it's also additional light being concentrated into that area (the hot spot) because of the design of the reflector, or rather, lack of it.

[wogga]

Hi all. I just received my 17" 150w MH w/2x14w t5 odyssea fixture from 'topdogsellers' (http://cgi.ebay.com/17-Metal-Halide-...item45f2279c33)

The guy is communicative and fast to ship, item arrived quickly, intact. The packaging (looks 100% factory - no retailer work) is a bit skimpy - bubblewrap around the fixture, but nothing around the bulbs. Regardless, it was intact on arrival. I pulled everything out and lit it u for 10-15 minutes just to make sure the bulbs fired up smoothly, etc. This went without a hitch.

As others have mentioned, the reflector is of rather low quality, so i'm sure that's robbing it of some efficacy. I can't remember seeing anything on this thread, but has anyone modded this fixture with individual, high quality (preferably, and assumably DIY) reflectors? I doubt i'm going to have to worry about it, since i've only got a 17" tall tank, and i'm building a 4-level eggcrate rack that will hold a good number of frags at either 5,8,11, or 12" below the surface.

I'll have this thing up and running on the 20 tall next week, and provide observations.

This is my first halide fixture, and i've never had an external ballast. I was wondering - do any of you have recommendations, maybe pictures for the best ways of mounting this thing? I'm trying to figure out what the safest, securest, but also modular or easily movable option is. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

[loyalrogue]

Originally Posted by wogga

I can't remember seeing anything on this thread, but has anyone modded this fixture with individual, high quality (preferably, and assumably DIY) reflectors?

I had the same thought.
I've seen patterns for DIY Lumenmax reflectors online that could be scaled to the exact size of the openings.

[wogga]

got links?

[loyalrogue]

Sure, here's a bunch.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=site%3Areefcent...arc+reflectors





OK, kidding aside, instead of digging through those long threads here is a direct link to a set of plans in various formats: http://thebrian.net/reflector/

Here is the same jpeg from that link but I inverted it from white on black to black on white for you: http://tiny.cc/vm2un

Just scale it up or down to the size you need in your favorite graphics program and print it out at home or have Kinkos print it on a single large sheet for you.
Tape it to a piece of sheet aluminum from Home Depot, or Solatube material, or this mirror finish sheet aluminum from Marine Depot: http://www.marinedepot.com/2%60_x_2%...ACRAMH-vi.html
Snip, bend, drill, rivet, repeat for additional reflectors.

[Canoe1]

Just bought 48" 250 mh x2 4x65 w power compact fixture. I'm still alittle apprehensive about this purchase but was willing to give it a shot..It will be on a new 90g setup so time will tell..I will swap bulbs out and do a watt test to see my output before installing.

[DarG]

Originally Posted by loyalrogue

Sure, here's a bunch.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=site%3Areefcent...arc+reflectors





OK, kidding aside, instead of digging through those long threads here is a direct link to a set of plans in various formats: http://thebrian.net/reflector/

Here is the same jpeg from that link but I inverted it from white on black to black on white for you: http://tiny.cc/vm2un

Just scale it up or down to the size you need in your favorite graphics program and print it out at home or have Kinkos print it on a single large sheet for you.
Tape it to a piece of sheet aluminum from Home Depot, or Solatube material, or this mirror finish sheet aluminum from Marine Depot: http://www.marinedepot.com/2%60_x_2%...ACRAMH-vi.html
Snip, bend, drill, rivet, repeat for additional reflectors.

I dont think that the Lumenmax, Lumenarc or any of the symmetrical (square or octagonal) reflectors are well suited for scaling down and using in this fixture. The cutouts in the Odyssea are rectangular. The above mentioned Lumenmax is square and uses a relatively small top section to help reduce hot spot intensity (along with the angles/corners) There is a good deal of design put into these reflectors (lumenmax, lumenarc etc) and the symmetrical shape as well as the smaller top section, corner angles, depth (height) and choice of reflective material are all part of the design and work together from a performance standpoint.
If I were to try and build my own reflectors to replace those in the odyssea, I would look to model them after a rectangular reflector like the Reef Optix for example. The Reef Optix is a very good reflector in it's own right for smaller covewrage areas and is a rectangular design. This could be more effectively downsized and implemented into the Odyssea fixture than a symmetrical design. If trying to replicate the reef optix, dont skip the formed ridge at the top. That ridge is instrumental in this reflectors design in terms of performance/hot spot reduction.

Just my 2 cents.

[wogga]

Thanks, guys!

[wogga]

Well, the lights are on. Since I've roughly sextupled my wattage, I'm undergoing a gradual transition to the new lights. i have been running on a 4 hour/day halide period, with actinics 10 hours/day. Yesterday, I bumped the halide up to 6 hours/day, and actinics to 11. Ive currently got the light about 10" above the surface. Once the photoperiod is up to its permanent level, I will drop them down to about 4" over the surface.

Everything seems to be responding well. I picked up a bunch of SPS frags the other day (12 or so assorted acropora (florida, formosa, efflorescens, millepora, valida, tortuosa, and the several of the ubiquotous "acropora sp."), superman and sunset monti, monti cap, monti sp., pocillopra sp. and a couple of millepora, as well as a ricordea and a blue ridge). Everyone looks happy.

After all of the Salem-esque comments I've heard about odyssea to this point, I must say this - The remote electronic ballast stays cool enough that if i were to WEAR it all day, against my skin, the worst thing I would have to worry about is sweating. For $110 shipped, I'm extremely pleased.

*ONE gripe - the mounting legs work like so - there is a channel on the fixture into which the individual mounting leg extenders slides. In these extenders are two threaded holes for tension screws - one for mounting to the leg, one for mounting to the fixture. This mounting leg extender also tension screws to each individual leg. Odyssea only provides enough screws for mounting the leg to the extender, NOT the extra 4 you need to secure the leg extenders to the fixture. Not the end of the world, but come on, it's FOUR screws!

Alright, gripe over. After about a week of running, I've got to say I'm pleased as punch with this fixture.

[unbreakable]

Originally Posted by bhazard451

Why did you change out the ballasts? Were they putting out lower than 270w?

Yes, all the bulbs suck. The Phoenix 14k looks great in it though.

I just wanted to change out to better quality ballasts. I ended up putting in two 14k Phoenix bulbs and put 4 ATI Blue Plus bulbs.

On my tank the colors pop nicely but overall the tank is like a white color with a small tint of blue, and thats with the main lights and actinics on

[Canoe1]

I swapped my 250w ballasts with vertex and so far great results...There driving the stock 15K bulbs and the blue comes out very nice..

[mmullaly]

I just recieved my 72" fixture with 3 X 250W MH and 4 X 96W PC bulbs. This was a replacement for the Odyssea 48" 2 X 250W and 4 X 65W PC. I upgaded my tank from a 72 g bow to a 155 g bow. The new fixture came with newer ballasts. They are black and bigger than the previous ballasts. The only problem is that one of the ballasts already blew up. It stated to light the bulb and then snap, crackle and pop. THe ballast blew with a little bit of smoke. I took it apart and found that several resistors and a diode were completely fried. I was hoping that the new ballasts were going to be better quality , I guess not.

[rju12]

Man... Does anyone know where I could find a odyssea 48" 2x250w mh fixture. I have been looking for a long time and I can't find one.

[jbell370]

I too have the 17" fixture and have used it since Nov 09 with no issues at all. Everything turns on, stays on, runs cool, no noise from the fan.

My issue is I cannot change the MH bulb. I have bought XM, Hamilton and two other no name bulbs, none of which will fire. The stock bulb is 15k looks like 6500, very yellow after the break-in. I have since ordered (last week) another bulb from them 20k just to see if there is any change.

Has anyone else changed the MH bulb? 150w DE HQI?

Thanks

[DarG]

Originally Posted by jbell370

I too have the 17" fixture and have used it since Nov 09 with no issues at all. Everything turns on, stays on, runs cool, no noise from the fan.

My issue is I cannot change the MH bulb. I have bought XM, Hamilton and two other no name bulbs, none of which will fire. The stock bulb is 15k looks like 6500, very yellow after the break-in. I have since ordered (last week) another bulb from them 20k just to see if there is any change.

Has anyone else changed the MH bulb? 150w DE HQI?

Thanks

Ballast output is probably low. It wouldnt be the first time it has been reported with the 150 watt ballasts. You can either pick up a kill-a-watt meter to confirm, try a replacement ballast from Odyssea if they will send you one under warranty, or pick up a new ballast. It's not a bad idea to invest in a kill-a-watt meter, they come in handy for all types of things. Since they arent 100% efficient, the ballast needs to draw over 150 watts from the wall in order to be able to supply the lamps with 150 watts. But aftermarket lamps not firing and a very yellow look to the stock 15K are tell tale symptoms of an underpowered ballast so if you dont want to invest in the meter, it's a safe bet that replacing the ballast with one that meets spec. will fix the problem and all your aftermarket lamps will fire and produce their proper spectrum (color) and output (par).
ballastwise.com has ballasts that meet spec if you are on a budget.
Otherwise, look into a brand name electronic 150 watt halide ballast ... or a magnetic HQI (M81) if you wish.

[jbell370]

Thanks for reply, that is what I thought, I did look at an Icecap ballast, however I guess with any new ballast I would need to change the cord. I am starting to think the critics are right, you get what you pay for....perhaps time to switch to the ATI T5 fixture I saw on the weekend.

[DarG]

Originally Posted by jbell370

Thanks for reply, that is what I thought, I did look at an Icecap ballast, however I guess with any new ballast I would need to change the cord. I am starting to think the critics are right, you get what you pay for....perhaps time to switch to the ATI T5 fixture I saw on the weekend.

It's a simple wiring job to swap ballasts. You can wire in the existing cord directly to the new ballast or wire a socket/plug on the new ballast to accept the existing cord. It depends on the new ballasts wiring and your preference. Either way, you dont need to replace the entire cord.
Regardless, yes, you get what you pay for eventhough sometimes you do pay too much to get one of the high performance fixtures. Seperates is the way to go if at all possible, in my opinion. It's the least expensive way to get high performance if you dont have to have a pre-made fixture for aesthetics reasons (ie, canopy or in-wall tank).

If you do decide to replace the ballast ... personally, considering this was a budget purchase in the first place, I would consider picking up the 150 watt electronic halide ballast from ballastwise.com They are inexpensive compared to the brand name ballasts but they are good ballasts, well reviewed and they do meet spec so they will actually deliver the 150 watts plus to the lamps and fire all aftermarket lamps.

[Siddique]

I have the 3x250W MH and 4x PC actinics. I am happy with it so far but I'm very unhappy with the greenish tint that my tank now has as well as my coral's color intensity has dropped to a bownish color.
I plan to do major upgrades to fix this color problem. Firstly by replacing PCs with UVL PCs and replacing MHs with phoenix14Ks and Luminex ballasts.
How does this upgrade sound?
Overall, I am pleased with the quality of this product but I am not pleased with the color light it produces.

[loyalrogue]

I just purchased the Odyssea 72" 3x250w MH w/ 4x96w PC actinic fixture ($489 w/ free shipping) to give it a firsthand review.

Currently I am testing it out over a friend's new tank that was just purchased from a fellow reefer and moved.
(Forgive the lack of aquascaping. The corals were just placed willy-nilly after the move in milk-white water to spread them out until they can buy some more rock next week.)

Previously the coral were kept under 6x80w 60" T5 Icecap retros.
So far after a little more than 1 week under the Odyssea fixture all the corals are showing great polyp extension and no loss of color or distress.

Here is the tank under full lighting. (stock Odyssea 15k bulbs)



Here is the tank under Actinics only. (stock Odyssea bulbs)



Here are some pics of coral polyp extension under the MH bulbs.











One problem I had was one of the MH sockets was loose when I unwrapped the fixture.
It looks like the screws were overtightened and stripped at the factory.
I contacted Aquatraders and they were very responsive.
They sent me instructions for testing the bulb in case it needed to be replaced and are currently sending me a replacement reflector for the one that has stripped screw holes.

On the whole, a very positive experience.... so far.
Will follow-up after a few more weeks.

[Andrew Henry]

I have a 3 x 250w / 4 x 96w PC and I love it, sure beats paying $1000+ for the same thing!