enash67
New member
To benefit all reefers I wanted to start this thread to so I could give feedback on my experience has/will be with aquatraders.com. I know there has been good and bad feedback on this company. So hopefully I can add some insight for others that may be sitting on the fence.
Quick Background:
I have been reefing since 1993 and had several tanks including a 300G that I made myself and kept until around 2003 when i took a break from the hobby. So I know all about what it takes to have a successful reef system and its costs.
To date:
I have re-entered the hobby with a 95G reef ready tank that I just put up last weekend and I was looking for MH lighting that looked clean and hopefully performs well.
After much searching and researching I decided to take the plunge and order the 48" 760W Metal Halide System (Electronic Version) yesterday. Since I was ordering I also ordered the Odyssea PS75 Protein Skimmer.
I ordered everything Monday morning and by lunch today (Tuesday) i did not hear anything or receive anything other than the initial email order confirmation. This kinda bummed me because 1.) I am impatient person and 2.) usually you get some kind of order shipped confirmation within 24 hours.
So I went online to their website because you can check your order status. That just showed the order was in process. I noticed that there was a "Talk Live" icon in the upper right hand screen so I connected to that. After a couple minutes someone named "Karen" popped on the screen and politely asked what she could do to help me. I asked if my order was shipping today and she replied that it shipped yesterday and gave my my tracking number. She also informed I would receive my package this Friday. I confirmed this on the UPS website with the tracking number she provided.
I then asked her what the Kelvin rating was of the 250W MH DE bulbs that came with it (they do not mention K rating on the website). She said that depends what was available when they tested the fixture. They could be 10K or 20K. Hmmmmm very interesting....I asked her how would i know? do they mark the box? and she said to look at the bulbs themselves...alrighty then..
So that is my experience to date. I will post pictures and give a status report when i do receive my items.
I also plan on bringing them into work so our electrical engineers can look at them from a quality standpoint.
Thanks...
Quick Background:
I have been reefing since 1993 and had several tanks including a 300G that I made myself and kept until around 2003 when i took a break from the hobby. So I know all about what it takes to have a successful reef system and its costs.
To date:
I have re-entered the hobby with a 95G reef ready tank that I just put up last weekend and I was looking for MH lighting that looked clean and hopefully performs well.
After much searching and researching I decided to take the plunge and order the 48" 760W Metal Halide System (Electronic Version) yesterday. Since I was ordering I also ordered the Odyssea PS75 Protein Skimmer.
I ordered everything Monday morning and by lunch today (Tuesday) i did not hear anything or receive anything other than the initial email order confirmation. This kinda bummed me because 1.) I am impatient person and 2.) usually you get some kind of order shipped confirmation within 24 hours.
So I went online to their website because you can check your order status. That just showed the order was in process. I noticed that there was a "Talk Live" icon in the upper right hand screen so I connected to that. After a couple minutes someone named "Karen" popped on the screen and politely asked what she could do to help me. I asked if my order was shipping today and she replied that it shipped yesterday and gave my my tracking number. She also informed I would receive my package this Friday. I confirmed this on the UPS website with the tracking number she provided.
I then asked her what the Kelvin rating was of the 250W MH DE bulbs that came with it (they do not mention K rating on the website). She said that depends what was available when they tested the fixture. They could be 10K or 20K. Hmmmmm very interesting....I asked her how would i know? do they mark the box? and she said to look at the bulbs themselves...alrighty then..
So that is my experience to date. I will post pictures and give a status report when i do receive my items.
I also plan on bringing them into work so our electrical engineers can look at them from a quality standpoint.
Thanks...