Anyone bought from Catalina Aquarium?

[norcal99]

I've got a buddy who can get me a deal on lighting fixtures from Catalina Aquarium so I'm curious if anyone has ever dealt with them or can comment on the quality of the ballasts/fixtures. I'm looking to purchase a 150W MH + 2x24W T5HO's and want to know if there is anything bad about this company. I don't know much about them if any but do know that they're based somewhere out of Sactown. Hoping their ballasts and bulbs aren't cheap stuff that ships from China.

Your input is appreciated!
Mike

 

[Unarce]

I had a MH fixture made by them a few years ago. It's an excellent piece of equipment, and I still keep it as a backup.

I have heard that the manager had quit shortly after, and the quality of the fixtures have gone with him.

I know someone that recently purchased a custom fixture from them, and one of the ballasts simply won't stay on. Catalina's response was that the ballast can overheat, and that he should have a fan blowing on it:rolleye1:

If you do get it, don't bother purchasing their bulbs or fans with the fixture. You're much better off buying qualtiy brand versions of those.

Good luck!

 

[norcal99]

Thanks for the heads up Karl... That definitely did not instill a lot of confidence and it sounds like a hit or miss with the ballasts. Seems like the risks outweigh the benefits and I think just for a piece of mind, will probably order a 150W retro kit from illuming.com... the aromat elec. ballast and 14K phoenix bulb seem like a pretty good mix...

 

[nova62]

me and my brother both have ther 250 watt retro kits. and we use ther 250 watt retro kits on the sps tanks at work.so far they have worked great.i run a small fan on my ballast and it barely gets warm.here are some pics of the sps tanks at work

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[norcal99]

Nice SPS tanks! How long have you been using that retro kit for? What type of bulb are you using as well?

 

[nova62]

the lights on the tanks at work have been on them for about a year and we are using catalina 20k bulbs

 

[Unarce]

Those caps are gorgeous. You and your brother must have gotten a good batch of bulbs.

 

[nova62]

my brother and my work got good bulbs.the ones i got for my tank at home were crapy.


micaiah

 

[norcal99]

Is it just the bulbs that have a poor reputation?

 

[Justin74]

Holy cow! Those are gorgeous monti's nova!Sweet milli too!!
Nice gardening :thumbsup:

-Justin

 

[maxdout]

i had some catalina powerheads... what can i say "JUNK" it wouldn't even work for mixing salt. I wouldn't buy anything from them again. Lucky enough I had won the powerheads from the Mars meeting.

 

[josh holt]

as my brother said are metal halides have been fine. their pumps on the other hand are crap along with customer service.

 

[Brian Prestwood]

I got my custom 170 tank and PCs from Catalina. They did a good job on my custom tank. The PCs have been very reliable. They were easy to deal with.