aquatraders lights

Ok I know what I am going to hear but I was a little desperate and short on cash after having some problems with my tank crashing.  I really wanted to upgrade to metal halide lights and found a fixture on aquatraders website.  It is a 48" dual halide 250w with 4 t5 ho actinics.

Well after ordering it and waiting almost 2 weeks it arrives and upon opening it I find out that one of the actinics is broken.     Well that can happen in shipping I think and so I think I will give them a call about it anyway to see if they will replace it, I go to the website and lo and behold no phone number, you have to email them.  I send off an email and get a reply pretty quick, sorry we don't guarantee the bulbs but if you want a replacement send $8.00 and pictures of the broken bulbs.  Sure that's fair, I send off a couple of pictures and ask how and where to send the money for the replacement bulbs.  In the meantime I go and pick up a replacement bulb and put it in and all is fine, lights look pretty good and I am happy.  Well today I get home from work and the back actinics are out, switch is on but no actinics.  Also still no reply from aquatraders about the bulbs.  I send them off an email again about the bulbs and also the actinics.  No word from them yet. 

So my question is will both bulbs go out if one burns out?  They are controlled by the same switch.  Hopefully it is just another bulb that got banged around during shipping and just went out.  Any advice?  I know I shouldn't have gone for the cheap stuff but I just couldn't afford to spend 600-800 bucks on a light system right now and could probably not justify it any time soon to the wife anyway.

Of course just my luck.  My son did say he heard a pop just before he noticed that the back lights were out.  Is that something I can replace myself if I don't hear back from Aquatraders?  Where would you buy a new ballast?


Edited by dons - November 10 2010 at 10:53pm

From what i hear This Fixture arent UL listed, which mean they can catch on fire

The fires associated with Aqua Traders stuff was with the old metal halide ballasts. Sure the fixtures aren't great but I wouldn't worry about fire.

More than likely there is a short somewhere. Pull the fixture apart and check all the wiring.

For a replacement ballast go to Reefgeek.com. Plan on $30-$40 for a good ballast. I would contact CapnMorgan here on the board and see what he can get you.

The biggest issue with Aqua Traders is that everything is cheap. Cheap ballasts, cheap bulbs, cheap fixture and cheap customer service.

I hope they do the right thing and help you out!

Edited by Ryan Thompson - November 11 2010 at 8:58am

I just bought one of the aquatraders expandable 4 bulb T5 lights and so far I am very happy with it (knock knock lol) I just wanted some supplemtal lighting for a more blue dusk/dawn and some nightlights, and I must say the LEDs are awesome. Perfect amount of light for the night shimmer. Yes the fixture is cheap and cheasy, but heck for $89 delivered to your door, its hard to go wrong.

Hi Dons,
There will be many people who say Odyssea brand products are cheap crap and they were right at one point in time.  I found this website and did my research on the brand.  Older posts dating back to 2006 reported fires and melting issues due to the magnetic ballasts instead of electronic which they now use.  But now its 2010 and I feel Odyssea has come a long way in lighting.  I have had my fixture for about 1.5 yrs now and it is still going strong.  I also bought a skimmer and have been pleased with it.  Even considered doing a review on the product within the forums for others to see.

In addition to this it cost 1/3 less that comparable products and comes with decent bulbs.  I ran my bulbs for over a year and have kept softies, lps, sps, and a clam with no deaths what so ever(120 gal fat).  The issues you will hear most is that the ballasts die after a while but the great thing about this is that if they do die there are IceCap ballasts that are a perfect fit and can be swapped with no issues.

From what I have read people will buy this unit, replace the bulbs with higher quality bulbs and replace the ballasts with icecaps and still spend less than other full fixtures.  So if you are going to use metal halides I would consider this option. 

I don't personally have a bunch of money to spend on lighting and if I did I would have gone with a professionally built LED or MH setup but since that is not the case I went with Odyssea.  I think it all comes down to the lighting you prefer first but then the money you are willing to drop."

Edited by ninja_brandon - November 11 2010 at 1:02pm

Email aquatraders and they will take care of you. I have bought a bunch of stuff from them and they have been great to work with.

Yeah give them a few days to respond. It's got to be a pita to do customer service over email.

I ordered a couple of cheap Odyssea bulbs from these guys and I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised with how the bulbs are performing in my tank.

Just got a call from Chris, ClarkWGrizwald, not only has he offered to give me a couple of the T5 bulbs but has graciously offered to take a look at the lights to make sure everything is connected inside!  What a bunch of great people on this board.  I really appreciate all the help and offers of help and advice I have found here.

Thanks everyone!

I have run Odyssea lighting for quite some time, the only thing I have changed is icecap ballasts and ushio bulbs still with the stock pc lighting that I haven't changed in YEARS!  And for those who are wondering if I saw a difference in the ballasts the awnser is YES much brighter and diffrent color from the aquatraders bulbs.