<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10468357#post10468357 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by delsol650
I just dont get the idea of buying something cheap, spending more money to get better parts for it and moding it.. just to get it to work up to par with better brands or supposdly work better than the top of the line stuff out there.... puzzles me... I'm on the buy it set it and forget it.
Neither do I get people who spend $$$$ on corals and fish yet SKIMP out on equipment and other stuff... very puzzling...:hmm2:
well, when you consider a similar fixture...
lets say the coralife aqualight, new it retails for $900+, and it has exactly the same housing, legs, celing mount, etc. except, ballast and PC bulbs, now the Odyssea retails for $380, then you add 2 new ballast, let's say; IceCap or CoralVue, each is $100, now the fixture is $580, well if you did like me and sell the Odyssea ballast on ebay, you can recover about $100-150 for the pair. so you are back down at about $400-450, and even if you didn't sell the ballast, you can still use the $400 difference on other equipment.
now I don't own a DELTEC like you, or work for a BIOSCIENCE Lab, so I can't afford a $1000 skimmer, so I do away with a Euroreef, not the same but I get good results.
is like just because you can afford an AMG Benz, and I can do a Ford or Chevy, well still a car, still gets me places, and I can mod both to make them just as fast, or fun or both.
it comes to this, if you are handy, and have a brain and can clearly see the posibility of saving some $$,by getting equipment that has potential, the go ahead, but if you can tell the difference between a corless screwdriver and a drill, then buy the premium stuff, already made.... maybe since some people here are so rich, they should hire some of us poor people to take care of their tanks...:rolleye1: