Ordered Aquatrader MH/PC light hood

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...
 
i have a light i bought from them 18 month ago . 3=175 mh and 4=65 pc ,12 moon the has worked great had one small problem a fan went out on ballaces in about 6 month that could happen on any light .i would buy agin when i had apart a looked well put together.
 
as far as the "looking at the bulbs"... mine (HQI) are unmarked. The PC's are all actinic. I'm subscribed and anxious to hear your review.

Ahhhh... look what I started ;)

-J
 
Thats the first thing that came into my mind was I doubted about looking at the bulbs....but i figured I would use them just till my tank was going and then buy 14K or 20K HQI DE Bulbs....

BTW, since I been out of the hobby for a while what would be a recommended bulb replacement and who usually has the best prices
 
Re: Ordered Aquatrader MH/PC light hood

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9232517#post9232517 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by enash67
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...

hi
I order mine to but I can't see the live help that you saw! I will like to ask them about the tracking I order mine 3 day ago and no respond yet..
 
Did you check during business hours? I noticed it was not there now when i checked. perhaps it is something they turn on during buisness hours.

I just got my email today from them last night at 10:40p see below:

"Dear Edward Nash,

We would like to inform you that your order 223XXXXXX placed on 2/12/2007 11:02:00 AM has been shipped.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Order Shipped Via: UPS Ground

The tracking number for your package is: 1ZA77YXXXXXXXXXXXX

You can track your order on-line by clicking here"
 
I do remember seeing on their site that most orders are processed and shipped within 48 hours, which is exactly what they did with mine. Granted, not the speediest order processing, but I knew it up front, and wasn't worried about it.

-J
 
well I talk to karen and she told me that my order was shipped yesterday she also give me the tracking # this type of chat work so much better she respond to me in 2 min...
I think is great...
I will post photo when they arrive.... on the 21st
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9258726#post9258726 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by enash67
For those of you interested I got my lights this morning and all i can say is I am very pleased...

for the review i will be posting on my website wit pics...

http://home.comcast.net/~enash67/reef.htm

go there and I will be updating throughout the weekend...

man thanks for the photos!! nice scope I willl like to have one of those:strooper:
the tank is running now? can you post some other pic. of your sump
arnaldo
 
The 24" models came in, so I just ordered one this morning. I'm a little hesitant about it, but you just can't beat it for $170. If it's crap I'll be a little ****ed for a while...but we'll take a chance.

-Marc
 
I just updated my website with more feedback on the fixture and also with a skimmer page that shows the odyssea skimmer and detailed shot of my sump...hope this helps others...
 
Very nice. Keep us updated on the light and skimmer once it's going. I wondered about this skimmer and from teh bad pics I had seen (months ago) I thought it was just a seaclone. Looks better than that in your review.

One thing I would like to say regarding your sump. I really like your method to seperate fuge/skimmer return pump area. That is a super great idea. In my experience, 250W is not enough heat for a 90. I keep my ambient around 62F when I am at work, and I use a pair of 200W tronic heaters on a digital ranco. Definitely consider a Ranco. They are $50, and are much more dependable than any internal heater thermostat.

enjoying the pics!

-J
 
Thanks for the compliments :)

Yes I wanted to direct my limited $$$ resources to things i could not make such as the fixture and a ReefKeeper2.

I use to have a 300G reef a couple years ago before I was divorced and i just ran to large rubbermaids together for the sump. all i had in there was two 300W heaters and they did not come on much. with the internal pumps from the skimmer and return, plus the lights you just need a heater to buffer the temp. It probably would never play catchup...but it can maintain.

As for the skimmer I think it is pretty nice also for $30. I do wish it had a cup drain. I may add one in the future....

I just added a couple more pics to the website of the fixture and some more comments. Mine did not have black paint sprayed all along the edge on both sides. was your that way also?
 
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