Aqua Traders

[papijames]

Aqua Traders have a set of 4 54W T5on sale right now for like $79.99+ shipping. I know this is a great deal but are they selling refurb items? should I invest my money in that deal? Please I want your review before I waste my money

[jrsatx20]

i think they sell their stuff all over ebay at least when i was looking for a light they were now they have pics but had to remove their logo.

[Fish4life]

You get what you pay for...keep that in mind.

Cheers,

Kurt

[devonian]

aquatraders stuff is made quite cheaply, you can easily find better quality stuff for your hard earned money from other companies, just keep looking

[coraline79]

Why wouldn't you got for it? I don't get it. It is 75 bucks, and I am sure it comes with some sort of warranty. A comparable light would run you 250-300, so you could buy 3 or 4 of these for the price of 1 + it comes with bulbs and moonlight LEDs. I mean you would have a hard time finding 8 x t5 end caps for that price. A bargain is a bargain, and if you are running anything else besides metal halides, this is better. That being said, I think this is an odyssea light, and people around here don't have many good things to say about them. I have had an odyssea moonlight bar from odyssea that I purchased 2 months ago, and it seems to work fine though-picked it up from AD.

[jc]

I had some pc's from aquatraders a few years ago. They are cheaply made. Mine had plastic parts that came apart and the fan had a hum that would come and go. Besides that they lasted a long time until I upgraded to t5's. I would go for it. As long as it throws light who cares if it is cheap plastic?

[SoLiD]

They are ok lights fixtures. They aren't refurbs, just imports from China. AD has had some MH\CF combo fixtures in the past that look fairly decent. I'd buy one for that price just to see. BTW I spent almost $100 on a 20inch CF Coralife light fixture for my fuge. I wish I knew about Aquatraders then because that was pretty much a waste of money. -David

[Fish4life]

Take it from someone who researched long and hard before buying t5 lighting. If your expecting a good result from you t5 lights you will need good reflectors. stick with icecap reflectors or tek II reflectors (i would go icecap). if you buy cheap reflectors you won't get the kind of par your thinking of not to mention that most cheap reflectors will tarnish (or spot) and will have to be replaced. Don't do it.

[lhoy]

Just search the threads here on lighting and see how many people say something to the effect of "man, if only I had bought such and such to begin with." While higher prices doesn't always mean better in this hobby, it usually does with lighting!!

Most of us have spent way more money buying two or three sets of lights instead of just biting the bullet and buying the right one to begin with.

Lee

[coraline79]

I have the GLO(100 bucks retail) fixture with a single reflector for both bulbs, about the worst setup available as far as reflectors go, and it is still a 100% improvment over my 192watt Coralife Aqualight Deluxe(224 bucks retail), not to mention they give of almost no heat. The coralife was like a stovetop. If the reflectors don't work out for you down the road, buy some new ones, and put them in the fixture. Still the best deal you are going to come across. If you have the budget to waste 300+ on lights, go get the tek's or some other fancy setup. My guess is that if you are looking at something like this you are on a budget, and if you are on a budget, that is a steal, even if you had to eventually replace half the parts in the fixture.

[Jynxgirl]

Have you checked how much shipping would be? I was looking at some cheap stuff from them at one time and when I got to check out, it was crazy!

[SoLiD]

I checked it out Jynxy. Shipping was about $30 and alot of their higher dollar items have Free Shipping. Not bad for fragile shipping items (glass). Just thought I'd throw that in there.

[caferacermike]

Last I knew AquaTraders were selling Odyssea fixtures. Junk. They may offer a warranty but you'll be replacing ballasts and such regularly.

[engwife36]

Last I knew AquaTraders were selling Odyssea fixtures. Junk. They may offer a warranty but you'll be replacing ballasts and such regularly.

Agreed! I know a couple of people around here that went that way and pretty much have thrown them in the trash. IMO I wouldn't use one for my display lights.

[papijames]

Wow, so long story short, I get what I pay for. how many reflector should a good light fixure have?

[coraline79]

Wow, so long story short, I get what I pay for. how many reflector should a good light fixure have?

For t5 it is recommended that you have 1 for each bulb, but if you are going to retrofit, that will cost you about 100 buy itself for 4 bulbs.

[ErikH]

go to www.marinedepot.com (http://www.marinedepot.com) they have the blue Tek T5 fixture on sale for 310.00

[coraline79]

go to www.marinedepot.com (http://www.marinedepot.com) they have the blue Tek T5 fixture on sale for 310.00


It's $344.39 shipped, but if you want bulbs it's $464.70, thats almost 5 times the price of the AT setup.

This actually for the 4bulb setup, the 6 bulb can't be purchased and has been edited so that it can't be added to the cart.

[ErikH]

Sure it is alot, but it's a proven name brand, and one of the four most recommended brands for T5 housings. That fixture is also the cheapest option of the big four right now.

[ErikH]

Oh, the four I was speaking of being...

Geisemann
ATI powermodule
Aquactinics solar flare
Tek

[coraline79]

I understand that it is a great light, I am just saying that if I go through 2-3 $75 setups in 4 years, I still smoked the price of the bottom, top end light. So in the end it becomes a price for convenience/reliability. I guess I am just cheap. Thats me though, and it is solely my opinion. I just can't invest large amounts of money into something that is a hobby. I have to many other things I should be investing in.

[ErikH]

I understand that it is a great light, I am just saying that if I go through 2-3 $75 setups in 4 years, I still smoked the price of the bottom, top end light. So in the end it becomes a price for convenience/reliability. I guess I am just cheap. Thats me though, and it is solely my opinion. I just can't invest large amounts of money into something that is a hobby. I have to many other things I should be investing in.

I HEAR THAT! :) I have been wrestling myself over the purchase of a different lighting system and to me anything over 300 is a pain, but I just wanted to let him know that the option is there. It's a great deal for that fixture, and it's a reliable unit. Lighting, filtration, and water quality are the main concerns in keeping a tank, and those things I try not to skimp on. Plus, how much cooler does that housing look than a retrofit! :p
:pokin atcha:

[Darth-Tater]

There is a site on ebay that has an awesome setup with good reflectors workhorse 5 ballast 2 and 2 bulbs for about $139.00 plus shipping. Ask Kristie and Mike the have it.

tater

[papijames]

Sorry Guys for not replying for a while. I was across the border in Mexico and just got back 20minutes ago. Anyway I called Aquatraders while I was there and the lady I spoke with said everything was sold out for about a week or 2.:(
Dave how many reflectors does the light fixture you mentioned have? I would like the link if it's possible

[Ifiknewthen]

Just a thought to ponder....not the highest quality of lights = fire dept out to my house. Flames were like 4 feet tall as I rounded the corner. We have better lights now.

[papijames]

Just a thought to ponder....not the highest quality of lights = fire dept out to my house. Flames were like 4 feet tall as I rounded the corner. We have better lights now.

wow wow wow, you're talking about those lights from Aquatraders? how come I don't recall seeing a forum about that incident to warn other members here?
Man, now you make me just want to stick with my 50/50lights 18Watts.

[Ifiknewthen]

No, the lights were NOT from there. I was using our experience on a cheaper set. We may have been lucky & just got a bad one. But where we were lucky, for sure, there was no damage, just smoke & smell, big mess.

There were no post simply, because we did not know about MAAST then.

[coraline79]

What kind of light were they? what brand were they? what was the age of the lights? I think this is a very unique scenario. I have had all cheap light on all my aquariums for 22 years-the cheapesat ones I could find. One of them has lasted me the entire 22 years, and was recently sold with a tank, working perfectly.

[papijames]

Darth Tather sent me a link for a light on ebay but I cannot copy and paste it in here

[caferacermike]

Jebo/Oddysea were known fire starters. I just simply recommend people not buy them instead of giving the long story.

So um yeah what's $75 for a light, $75 for a replacement, $150,000 for a new house, $100,000 to replace all your stuff, oh and another $75 for another light?

[papijames]

OK, OK, You guys are all freaking me out with those fires. we leave the house alone quite often and I worry about power failure for the water to overflow. Now you guys are talking about fire? that's even worse.
Fine, Jason @ Aquarium design has a set for like$210. it has 4 bulbs and I think the brand is coralife. That's way, way, way more then what I was thinking of spending, but I want a peace of mind whenever we're away.
I also would like to know about the lt5ights that tater told me to look up on ebay. it's from a seller named "greatlights4less" it's 4bulbs + 2free replacements included(total of 3 11,000k & 3actinics) $154.95+ $29.95 shipping
Give me your ideas guys.

[Bill S]

JMHO. I wouldn't buy something with "Coralife" on it on a bet. As noted, this is ONLY MY OPINION.

[Darth-Tater]

Ask Kristie and Mike here on Mast I sold mine to them . It puts out a lot of light T5's. BTW I have been using an Odessy 260w PC light on the ank in my classroom for about a year. It works great. Always lights. Yes it was cheap but when you are funding 3 tanks at school you becone real cheap. My principal loves the pod in the office but has no cash for it. CHEAP is the Word for the day.

Tater

[Kristy]

Just found this thread... it's true that we are VERY happy with the T5s we got from the Tater. In fact, if you would not mind to pm me that ebay link, we'd like to buy some more for our new setup!

[caferacermike]

Catalina Lights or was it Catalina Aquariums? Anyways they used to sell on Ebay and they were decent for the money. KyleV bought several fixtures from them and they all looked nice. They use good ballasts and the fixtures are reported to be made by the company themselves.

My understanding of Jebo/Oddysea-Coralife was explained thusly to me by a very large Oddysea wholesaler (and close friend). A factory in Cheena makes the CL fisxtures to CL specs. After several years of doing so they decided to begin producing similar lights and other aquarium products.

[papijames]

Ok it seems like I'm gonna go with Tater's choice. He usually gives me good advice. I'm going to sleep early tonight so I'll get on ebay tomorrow to get those lights. Kristy I don't know why but I cannot paste links in here.
If you go on ebay and search for "greatlights4less" you'll see all the lights they sell and the T5

[Darth-Tater]

Already sent her the link James. Boy am I glad that I "usually" give good advice :eek: JK laters


David