aquatrader

They are neither...they are Chinese knockoff products. I have used them in the past for backup equipment and it is a gamble. If you are using electrical components such as lighting...take a minute to open the fixture and check the wiring. The import stuff has poor quality control.
 
i have been using a light from them for two years. I did eventually have to replace the ballasts, but all the wiring looked good when I opened the fixture up. For the money, I couldn't have done any better.
 
i just purchased a MH light from them and i am really impressed. they really upgraded the ballasts on the odyssea, and it works great. i do have to say aquatraders has the lowest prices and i shop there often, but their customer service is bad. i only recommend it if you can fix things yourself if they break. i have had to replace some hose fittings that were cheap plastic with metal hose clamps.

as far as chinese knockoff, if they make it cheaper and its still a good product, then might as well buy it. i have chinese ro/di filter, light, uv sterilizer, protein skimmer, ect.

i just dont want to pay more, and industry is in and going over to china, so my approach is to buy foreign stock and buy foreign products.
 
i have the MH fixture fromt hem and a skimmer both are great...the skimmer im very impressed with after getting it tuned out right and taking the stupid filter pads off thing foams like no tommorow...

as far as the lights they arent bad the bulbs they come with are less then desireable to be honest
 
thanks for the feedback! I'm interested in the 48" MH 2*250 and i was surprised by the pricing!

A local LFS told me that light was $800
 
You may find after replacing the bulbs and the ballasts that it isn't such a great deal after all. Some have had luck with the fixtures, some haven't. The last time I talked to them they told me they had no customer service. They were right...they have none.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12409262#post12409262 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sirreal63
They are neither...they are Chinese knockoff products. I have used them in the past for backup equipment and it is a gamble. If you are using electrical components such as lighting...take a minute to open the fixture and check the wiring. The import stuff has poor quality control.
Click to expand...

This is a totally bogus statement. They are brand new and redesigned. I'll bet that 99% of the "known" brand name lights you buy are manufactured, at least in part if not in whole, in China. Most MH bulbs that I've come across are also manufactured in China as well.

I purchased the 48" 2x250W MH fixture in December, and I love it. I did replace the stock ballasts with 2 IceCaps and I have replaced the stock bulbs (they sent 20,000K) with 2 x 14,000K ebay bulbs (for $28 each), which I love. The stock bulbs and ballasts worked fine, but they won't provide you with perfect output, which is why I replaced mine (I had the $ to burn). If you don't have the money to replace the ballasts and bulbs, the fixture as is will serve you well. I've also totally taken my fixture apart to check all the components, wiring, etc., and it is all fine.

For some reason, some hobbyists feel you need to spend $900+ on a fixture to get a "quality" light. This is just not so. Odyssea fixtures (which the Aquatraders fixture is) had their problems in the past, but Odyssea has since redesigned and upgraded the ballasts to address those problems.

This is a great fixture for the money. Even with my upgrades, I'm still hundreds ahead of where I'd be if I bought an Outer Orbit or Current or similar "known" fixture.

Price of fixture $359 with free shipping.

Price of 2 IceCap ballasts = $261.03 with free shipping.

Price of 2 14,000K bulbs from ebay = $56.

Price of power cord extensions for ballast connection = $16.41.

Grand Total = $692.44.

Cost of comparable Coralife = $1,072.99.
Cost of comparable Current USA = $879.99
 
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I have used their equipment myself. The first pc fixture I bought didn't fire...had a loose wire. One of the T5 fixtures had loose wire clamps and exposed wiring. Two other fixtures were ok. Several of my friends with the halides had ballasts either catch fire or burn up. It is a gamble and if you know what you are looking for you can head off issues with the wiring and inferior parts. Yes the electronic version is better than the old one but the quality control is still not there.

If it is a bogus statement then why did you replace the ballasts? How much did it cost you to replace the ballasts? Why would you have to replace the ballasts?

Fact is the quality control is not there. The components are sub par and that is always a risk. You have only had this equipment since Dec. and you already know the long term reliability of the product? I don't think so. The difference in products made in China is the standards they are expected to meet. If it is spec's for this country and they are commissioned to meet a requirement they can and will or they don't get paid. If they then take that product and make a duplicate of it that isn't intended to meet those specs you get Jebo and Odyssea.
 
after hearing the horror stories of ther MH's catching fire id never use one from them.... supposivly they corrected the problems but i still dont wanna chance my house/tank catching fire!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12410513#post12410513 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sirreal63
If it is a bogus statement then why did you replace the ballasts? How much did it cost you to replace the ballasts? Why would you have to replace the ballasts?
Click to expand...

As stated, it cost me $261 to replace the ballasts with two IceCap electronic ballasts. I didn't "have to" replace the ballasts. I replaced them because I read on this website that the stock ballasts only put out about 175 watts and that I could get better results using a quality ballast. I used the stock ballasts for 3 months with fine results before I upgraded. I don't dispute that the stock ballasts are not great, but for someone with limited money or someone (like me) that has money to upgrade but doesn't feel like wasting $200+ on a "name brand" fixture when I can mod the cheaper one, I think it's a good choice.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12410513#post12410513 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sirreal63
You have only had this equipment since Dec. and you already know the long term reliability of the product? I don't think so. The difference in products made in China is the standards they are expected to meet. If it is spec's for this country and they are commissioned to meet a requirement they can and will or they don't get paid. If they then take that product and make a duplicate of it that isn't intended to meet those specs you get Jebo and Odyssea.
Click to expand...

I did not make any statement about the long-term reliability of this product. I simply stated that I like mine--I have had zero problems with it so far. Yes, "so far" is only 5 months, but "so far" it works well. If you research, you will find many posts/complaints about "name brand" products not firing, not working, a ballast blowing up, etc. I would be willing to bet that the Current USA and the Coralife fixture are made in China.

Before I purchased this fixture, I literally spent HOURS reading and reading on the various websites about it. There was/is quite a long thread on Reef Central regarding this fixture, and the VAST majority of people who have bought it since the ballasts/internals were upgraded have been very, very satisfied with the fixture. Sure, there are some customer service complaints here and there, but so far I haven't had to deal with Aquatraders customer service.
 
Well, if you bought the fixture, and replaced the bulbs and ballasts with high end stuff, i.e: ice caps with AB bulbs, then your unit is practically a high end unit right?? the fixture is just aluminum casing, which has nothing to do with the quality of the light itself!! So if you get a 48" unit and did what abulgin did then your unit, which only cost you about $800 max, is actually better than the same identical unit from coralife because now you have better ballasts and bulbs. (do you guys know that the aluminum casing for the odyssey and the coralife are identical, I bet they're made by the same shop in china!!) oh yeah and for those that don't wanna use this brand, good for you, spend more money. but see how many people actually approve of the newer models of this brand (146 pages of it!!!!!):

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1037172&perpage=25&pagenumber=1
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1090216&perpage=25&pagenumber=1
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1109530&perpage=25&pagenumber=1
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1234358&perpage=25&pagenumber=1
 
I"m currently using pfo ballasts with retrofitted reflectors and xm bulbs. But I've owned aquatraders units before (both the 48" and 72") and I was very satisfied with them, nice looking too!!! If some one's gonna ask: if you were satisfied with them then why'd you change? I have a canopy now, retrofit unit stays cooler/ easier to vent inside my canopy.
 
Coralife and Current are both overpriced junk IMO.

I hope it works for you. As I said I do know the newer versions are better as far as the equipment goes. I went a different route.
2-LumenArc Mini's @ 135 ea.
2-XDE bulbs @ 65 ea.
2-ARO electronic ballasts @ 90 ea.

Total price was under $600 and blows away any Aquatraders junk.


You already know that the stock ballasts are sub par so what makes you think the rest of the equipment isn't sub par?

I do hope the fixture works for you and you did the right thing by replacing the ballasts but you still spent more than you should have. If saving money was the goal with the AQUA product...why did you pay so much more for a product that is still inferior? The reflectors on that fixture are not an efficient design and I would worry that the sockets are made to the same low standards as the ballasts you replaced.

To each his own I guess.
 
sirreal63, I agree with you that these name brand units are junk. They're all made with products from china. So if you're gonna buy a coralife, current, something along these lines, then get an aquatraders light because they're all the same quality. And yes it's better quality to just put one together yourself, totally agree!! I wanted to get 3xLIII, with 3x Ice caps and maybe AB bulbs, but that alone was like almost $1000!!! and no actinics!!! so I ended up buying a used unit (3x250w pfo, with spider reflectors and SE XM bulbs). But if I were to have another tank that has no canopy, I would want an all in one unit because it just looks better inside the house. I wouldn't use just lumenarcs over my tank without a canopy because I don't like how it looks.

Back to the original question:
No they're not refurbished, they're brand new. But if you have a canopy, I would suggest building a retro unit. like sirreal63 did.
 
Just wanted to chime in. I bought a powerhead, the PS160 protein skimmer, and a magnet cleaner from Aquatraders. It took a couple weeks to get here but I'm happy with all of them. I think alot of people discredit anything that comes from the but end up missing out on some cheap yet good quality products. An example is the magnet cleaner. Much cheaper than the mag float and still does just as good of a job PLUS I've never heard of one catching on fire. The pump that came with the protein skimmer was suprisingly a needle wheel. Luckly, I haven't had to deal with the customer support but as I heard someone else on here say, "price, quality, service. You can only have two."
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12411254#post12411254 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sirreal63
You already know that the stock ballasts are sub par so what makes you think the rest of the equipment isn't sub par?

I do hope the fixture works for you and you did the right thing by replacing the ballasts but you still spent more than you should have. If saving money was the goal with the AQUA product...why did you pay so much more for a product that is still inferior? The reflectors on that fixture are not an efficient design and I would worry that the sockets are made to the same low standards as the ballasts you replaced.

To each his own I guess.
Click to expand...

What's really important is how the light functions and whether the individual hobbyist likes it, right? As modded, my fixture works great and I am very pleased/feel I got a good end product for much less than I would have paid for a comparable "name brand" unit. There are a lot of people out there that are handy DIY types that can make a great fixture out of matches a tin foil-that isn't me, so I'm happy with what I got. I'm sure you did a nice job on your fixture and that it looks/works great.

I don't understand your comment about spending more than I should have--this fixture is dirt cheap. Nothing of like kind even comes close. I don't consider $600 to be a lot of money when it comes to an all-in-one MH lighting. And, I honestly do not believe my fixture, as modded, is an "inferior product". I'll give you that the reflectors are cheap and not that efficient, but they nevertheless do a nice job lighting up my tank. That leaves only the PC actinics. You can have the best fixture in the world, and at the end of the day actinics are useless other than for providing aesthetic pleasure to the hobbyist and similuting dawn/dusk, both of which my PCs do just fine.

Sockets are sockets--I've torn my fixture apart and they are sound and look like every other sockets I've seen on other units. I'll let you know when my house burns down.
 
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