aquatraders? yay or nay?

[Kengaroo131]

i was wondering if anyone had any experience with aquatraders and if there lights are worth getting. how long to they last?

[mg426]

I Have not heard very many nice comments about the equip. that they sell.

[Kengaroo131]

me nether but i want to find someone with a first hand experience.

[rgun2515]

Something wrong... Prices are too cheep...

$599.00 for 72" 1134W Metal Halide System

3x 250 W HQI
4X 96W
8x plug in bluemoon LED

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp...rodID=332&HS=1

[opiumpipez]

i have hadmy 2x250w halide fixture fora bout a year and it has worked perfectly!

keep in mind..i replaced the stock bulbs and ballasts with far superior ones.

from what i have read the stock ballasts are complete garbage and have the potential to light a small camp fire in your house

[akaatomic]

I've had a 4' 250w halide hood for over a year now. It works great. No issues. I even had a flood and submerged one of my ballasts. It fried of course, but no fire and the replacement was $40. Everyone says the stock ballasts suck. I haven't seen one with new ballasts first hand, so I can't say but I'll eventually replace mine and see what happens. I also have a 2' pc fixture from them. They all work fine.

[Kengaroo131]

interasting thanks guys.

[mg426]

Scary !!!!

[Freed]

Why would people buy these fixtures just to replace the ballasts or bulbs?

[bertoni]

I've seen a lot of the AquaTraders products in person, and wasn't impressed.

[jubjub]

got a skimmer and a48" fixture from them....both work like champs..no complaints about either one....good bang for your buck imo.....i get lots of skim from the skimmer and the lights light up every time with out a issue.....i have read the switches arent the best buttttttt.....i just run everything on a timer

[Kengaroo131]

ok im probably not going to get anything from there lighting wise at least.

[Kengaroo131]

i was lookinf at there 75 gallon skimmer is that any good?

[jubjub]

Originally posted by Kengaroo131
ok im probably not going to get anything from there lighting wise at least.

must be nice not to have a budget.....i forgot to mention if your not on a budget by all means i would of rather got a corallife or tek or something but for the price its not bad

[jubjub]

Originally posted by Kengaroo131
i was lookinf at there 75 gallon skimmer is that any good?

im getting quite a bit of skim from the skimmer people will probably bash it but it doesnt have to be expensive to work well......keep in mind im getting skim with no fish/crabs..yet

[Kengaroo131]

yea it would be better then what i have now and it would probably make my life easyer. i have a 10 gallon sumpless and skimmerless reef so im sure it would help haha.

[Kengaroo131]

i deffinatly have a budget hahahha but i might try to find somthing of better quality used maby.

[jubjub]

well the p75 or what ever it is the 75gallon skimmer im running it on a 55gallon so something to think about to....but isnt that overkill for a 10gal?

[colotl]

Like opiumpipez said they can catch on fire. They are not UL Listed. Insurance sometimes won't cover stuff that has been damaged by a product that was not tested by a saftey certfication lab.

[opiumpipez]

Originally posted by Freed
Why would people buy these fixtures just to replace the ballasts or bulbs?

compare the aquatraders fixture to a coralife.

do some basic math and even with the extra bulbs and ballasts the aquatraders fixture is still phenomenally cheaper.

aquatraders 2x250w 48" 350
2 ice cap ballasts "250
2 phoenix bulbs : 130

that adds to 730

coralife aqualight
2x250w 48" just under $1100

current usa
same fixture is about 900

[rafa316]

So in conclusion are aquatraders' lights yay or nay?

[colotl]

nay

[Shooter7]

Nay.

I've seen way too many negative experiences documented here to take a chance with them.

[Magnatron]

i just ordered the 48 inch 250 mh fixture. ive read post after post of complaints about customer service i have only actully seen one post of the unit actully failing witch was a capaitor burning out (48 cent part from radio shack). and i have seen about a thouasand people say it will burn your house down, but not one single actual case of a unit actully burning a house down.

there fixtures are made by Odyssea, cant find a webpage from them unfourtunatly. but one thing is for sure aqua traders is a resaler they do not manufacter the lights, so they wont want to troble shoot at all they will just want to replace the fixture with a new one to get you on your way.

and replaceing the bulbs isnt really and issue as most places dont even give you bulbs with the fixture you purchased anyhow.

so to sum it all up if your not affraid of some possable diy work i would definatly look into a more requtable manufactuer, but if your not affraid to pop the covers off things and pull out the soldering iron i can honestly say this route is the cheapest most effective way. before i found the fixture i was planing on ordering some retro kits and getting creative, now i got the whole shabang ready to go and as soon as i have more money to spend its just a matter order a few higher quality parts. only logic here is stagger out cost so you can enjoy your tank sooner i guess.

well just my two cents best of luck

[rgun2515]

I know what I said, but I ordered a light from them anyway. For 179.00 I thought it was worth a try. I ordered the 72" CF fixture. Looks good to me. I will build/buy a few pendant MH's in the future. But for now, it throws a lot of light, runs very quiet, and was cheep.

Shipping- Packed very well. Rapped in bubble rap, and 3 cardboard boxes.

Construction-Plastic legs could be better, but the rest is fine.

Heat-Ran for 24 hours in a 70 degree non ventilated room. Did not melt or get overly hot.

There is no reason for other manufactures to charge so much. They just do because they get it. Manufactures like Odyssea will help bring the price of other manufactures down...

Originally posted by rgun2515
Something wrong... Prices are too cheep...

$599.00 for 72" 1134W Metal Halide System

3x 250 W HQI
4X 96W
8x plug in bluemoon LED

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp...rodID=332&HS=1