odyssea Lighting

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Bigjohnwoody

New member
Was wondering if anyone could tell me about odyssea lighting and the quality that it is? There are really inexpensive metal halide, actinic, moon bulb sets on ebay and did not know if this is a total scam or if they are an ok brand to buy. It just seems so much cheaper than buying current or coralife. Help please
 
I have had one and can attest that you get what you pay for. Does it work? Yes. There have been many stories of their ballasts catching on fire.
 
lol....

this....gives you no choice to decide with the "i heard stories" replies youll get from some people.


yes they work. yes they are way cheaper than anything youll find out there. YES they look identical to the coralife 1000$ fixture YES its not the best quality.


ive owned mine for a year. it is a 250W MH/PC fixture and it runs very cool and quiet. i have replaced the bulbs on it but not right away. the stock ones people say are garbage but my fish and corals didnt mind it.

anyways most people will replace bulbs and ballast. this will cost you about 200-250 and even so youll be 500$ under what other companies charge.


i ran mine the way it is for a year as others who have gotten the same fixtures do so too.


the fire stories come from the really old fixtures that are not sold anymore that came with a computer tower sized ballast that was magnetic. the new ones are small and run cool. granted they dont compete with top dollar ones but they will do the job just fine.


<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v653/alextrusca/?action=view&current=_MG_2831.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v653/alextrusca/_MG_2831.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v653/alextrusca/?action=view&current=IMG_2728.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v653/alextrusca/IMG_2728.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v653/alextrusca/?action=view&current=IMG_2732.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v653/alextrusca/IMG_2732.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

inside the ballast

<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v653/alextrusca/?action=view&current=IMG_1985.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v653/alextrusca/IMG_1985.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

the MH bulb

<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v653/alextrusca/?action=view&current=IMG_1992.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v653/alextrusca/IMG_1992.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

im not saying its THE BEST FIXTURE out there.

but for a fraction of the money it actually keeps up with the big companies.

good luck.
 
Thank you very much! So theoretically I can change the bulbs and replace the ballasts and have the same unit as if I paid 1000 bucks or more? I am sure my wife will be thrilled to here that . Thank you very much for the pics big help and nice settup
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14738104#post14738104 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bigjohnwoody
Thank you very much! So theoretically I can change the bulbs and replace the ballasts and have the same unit as if I paid 1000 bucks or more? I am sure my wife will be thrilled to here that . Thank you very much for the pics big help and nice settup
Click to expand...



well what makes a fixture is the quality of bulbs and ballast and the reason these are cheap is because odyssea cut corners on those too. even tho they have performed for me just fine for a year now. those are recent pictures of the fixture with everything still stock on it.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14736914#post14736914 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by turretdr
I have had one and can attest that you get what you pay for. Does it work? Yes. There have been many stories of their ballasts catching on fire.
Click to expand...

The stories all relate to the magnetic ballasts that used to be sold with the fixture. Now, the ballasts are electronic and the problem has been solved.

I have the 48" 2x250W unit and love it. I replaced the stock ballasts with IceCap e-ballasts and swapped out the bulbs for cheap, but great, e-bay bulbs, and I couldn't be happier. My tank is SPS dominant, and all are growing like mad.

Are there better fixtures out there? Sure. The reflectors on the Odyssea fixtures are not great, but they do a fine job. All things said and done, I paid over $400 less than I would have paid for a comparable Current or other name-brand fixture.

DSC_1287.jpg


DSC_00661.jpg


DSC_00601.jpg
 
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I've got a 3foot 1x 250 DE MH/PC. I couldn't get the stock ballast to fire any other bulbs than the worn out crappy Odyssea bulb. For $100 I replaced it with a Lumatek ballast and tossed in a Hamilton 14K and the fixture CRANKS. I'm pretty sure the Lumateck overdrives a 250 watt bulb, where the stock ballast notoriously underdrove bulbs to the 150-175 watt range.

You can pick these up used very cheaply and replace the ballast. I've got a nice MH fixture over my frag system for around $300. Not too shabby.
 
Thanks to everyone for all the responses I am growing way more likely to buy one of these units especially cause I can pick a 48" with two 250 mh 4 t5 actinics and 6 moon bulbs for 350.00 bucks
 
Mine's still running after 3 + years.

Dual 175watt 48" Fixture, with Dual 96watt Actinic Blue PC's.

Works great for me, no problems, except I know the ballast will croak soon.
 
I have had mine for a year now (24"MH/PC) and after my first ballast blew on me about 6 months in I replaced it with an ice cap and a Phoenix 14k. I could not be happier with it yeah it has some flaws but in the end I have still only spent half the cost compaired to a name brand one.
 
I bought my 48" fixture from Aquatraders 2 years ago and the transaction went very smoothly. For $359, I just don't think you can beat the fixture
especially if you spend another $300 on new ballasts and bulbs.

There was/is a thread in the equipment/lighting forum on this fixture that is about 700 pages long and that discusses reefers' experiences in detail. I would say the overwhelming majority of them are positive.
 
good luck! not that youll need it i think youll be pleased with it.

luckily the lighiting is something you can upgrade without replacing the whole thing.

about the only thing you can go back and upgrade...skimmers stay the way they are reacotrs are the way they are tanks...not really but lights...i think youll be fine with for now with all the stock stuff and then in a year or so you can replace them so its not so hard on your wallet...in these tough economic times.


show us pictures!
 
Go T5.

Aquactinics TX5, $500 (i think), lasts longer, better colour, and I am bleaching some frags if I put them in the middle of the tank. Also know a few reefers that went from MH to T5 and are grossly impressed.

T5 all the way!
 
i just received my 48" odyssea with 4 t5ho actinics and 2 250w MH, i ordered it saturday and it arrived monday, i'm pretty close to there store though. it's F*in bright, and good colors. makes my 4x 24" current usa fixture look like a cheap old flashlight
 
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