Hqi (odyssea brand) made in china

[machodik]

Dear all,

I wonder how is your comment about Odyssea HQI *2 + T5 *4 + LED *6 SET.

I learned it is produced in Mainland China. anyone have use this products? how is the performances and the stability.

Will mucxh appreciated for your kind info.

Cheers,

MD

[dmarkham]

There are a lot of products made in China now. I am willing to bet most of the products we use are made there or parts of them where.

[machodik]

Originally Posted by dmarkham

There are a lot of products made in China now. I am willing to bet most of the products we use are made there or parts of them where.

Yes, I agree but in terms of this HQI that we normally runs at least 8 hours a day and I wonder how is the stability of the said lamps specially the ballast.

I learned that every components are made in china.

[AquaReeferMan]

IME they are junk. Get a nice quality fixture from the begining. Myself and a couple of my friends thought we could save some money and bought some of their fixtures. Needless to say lamps blew out ballasts blew out and they customer service is null. Save yourself the headache and take the money you would have spent on that fixture and put it towards a better one.

[DustinB]

Originally Posted by AquaReeferMan

IME they are junk. Get a nice quality fixture from the begining. Myself and a couple of my friends thought we could save some money and bought some of their fixtures. Needless to say lamps blew out ballasts blew out and they customer service is null. Save yourself the headache and take the money you would have spent on that fixture and put it towards a better one.

My experience is somewhat the opposite, along with many others. That being said, they are by no means a good quality fixture. The ballasts used to have a problem of under-driving the bulbs, which they seem to be putting out the proper wattage now. The T5 ballasts do suck though, they will go out about once a year.

For the price they do the job well. I'm using one on my 90g but I'm using icecap MH ballasts. I also retrofitted 2 VHOs where the 4 pc lights were, running an ARO ballast. I bought mine used though.

If you want a somewhat decent setup that will do the job and don't mind replacing a ballast here and there, then they will get the job done. After all, in fixtures like this there's not much difference in the reflectors. You just have better ballasts and a better overall finish/appearance with the $800 fixtures. It's not until you jump up into the $1500 plus range do you start getting really good fixtures.

Even still, there is only one manufacturer that I know of that makes these integrated fixtures that actually have a substantial output due to a different reflector design, but they are very expensive. Normally to get a better output you need to go with pendant reflectors.

For $239 you can't really beat it. Even some of the pricier fixtures are worse than the odyssea, such as current usa(IMHO). If you want to do it right with great equipment buy some pendant reflectors with a better design or buy a very high end fixture such as Sfigoli.

[rcoughtrey]

I have the dual 250w one. I have not had one issue so far. I brought a hanging device as the legs are poor. Mine sits about 10" of the tank now. The ballast that with it are way more stable than they use to me. They do not run hot at all, they barley get warm.

The only area I'm looking at changing is the bulbs.

I understand people say these are bad, however they are no where as near as bad as they use to be. Prior to this my 2nd hand tank had the 4 T5 54watt setup. I had that for 6 months and the guy before me for 3 years with out an issue.

Like anything made in china, USA, UK who cares can still break. In the long run what does not come from china, even the top brands if to break them down chase back the parts they will have links with china.

[Dwerbs]

not really the best, lights burn out and ballasts seem to get REALLY hot.

[machodik]

Thank you all for those important comments, which are the most important factor for my decision in choosing the right HQI lamp for my aquarium.

On the other hand, my aquarium is 3' x 2' x 2' , should I bought 150w x 2 HQI or 250w x 2 HQI?

Will much appreciate for your further advise. by the way, I plan to raise SPS, LPS and few fishes.

one last thing, should I used marine salt (CORAL LIFE brand? how is your comment on this brand?) or should I just go with natural sea water which is bit inconveiences but still managed to secure them even with an quantity of 500 liters.

Cheers,

MD

[naldopr]

no UL here so stay away no ul means fire