Odyssea Metal Halide System

[schuyler5237]

what do you guys think of these fixtures? Does anyone have experience with them?

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp...ROD&ProdID=333

[MichaelRyanSD]

you get what you pay for...I heard odyssea is like a cheap company that produces its equipment out of china...not sure on this...but yeah....like I said, you get what you pay for.

[iVgOnMaD]

I dont have experience w/them but I hear they are not very reliable, get it if you are prepared to have to replace the ballast if it fizzles out on you

OR

You can get those lights and a set of good quality ballasts and replace them from the start, you can then keep the ones that came with the fixture in case your good ones crap out or you have to send them out for repairs.

[GoTakuF1]

I dont have experience w/them but I hear they are not very reliable, get it if you are prepared to have to replace the ballast if it fizzles out on you

OR

You can get those lights and a set of good quality ballasts and replace them from the start, you can then keep the ones that came with the fixture in case your good ones crap out or you have to send them out for repairs.

Great advice and unfortunately, this is quite true. I've heard of some cases awhile back where Odyssea fixtures were bursting up in flames. I'm not quite sure if the current generation of those fixtures are any better designed/built. The saying, "You get what you pay for," is often true. However, now that you're on SDReefs, you actually get some pretty good used stuff for what you pay

[barometer]

DO NOT BUY ODYSSEA! They are cheap crap and fire hazards. I almost blew up my whole setup with some lights from them, got replacements and the same thing happened.....never again.

[schuyler5237]

I'v had the 48" pc light set up from them for about 1.5- 2 years with no problems.i was just wondering if anyone had any hands on with this product.seems like a lot to cram into such a small space.with heet and everything.

[temec_lover]

ive read on rc that the new generation ones work good but dont have good par w/most bulbs.. good a shallow tank

[barometer]

I'v had the 48" pc light set up from them for about 1.5- 2 years with no problems.i was just wondering if anyone had any hands on with this product.seems like a lot to cram into such a small space.with heet and everything.

The heat in such a small space is part of the issue along with low quality wiring and power supply.
I think you got lucky with the PCs so far. But I've talked to others who have used them with no incident as well. I just can't argue with being literally burned twice by them (no pun intended )

[schuyler5237]

thanks for the input

[SuperDragon]

Dude stay away from Odyssea and AquaTraders.com they are based out of the Bay Area (San Bruno, CA) and I've been to their place... It's a huge wholesale fish warehouse, Costco size (sells to other fish stores). I had a horrible experience with them. BAD service, Does NOT return calls, lots of refurbished light fixtures on-sale in the store. It was not worth the headache saving the money. I would have paid more for my fixture to get a name brand setup. 100% cheap China, not the good China stuff.
Their PCs are ok, but their MH's run hot and explosive.
Just look at their return/exchange policy and you'll see what I', talking about.

[schuyler5237]

do you guys know of any resonablely priced fixtures with halides i dont have a canopy so it cant be a retro kit.but it also dosnt have to be beutiful since the tank is in my garage.however if my boss(wife) ever lets me move it into the house it will have to look decent.

[GoTakuF1]

The Aquamedic Ocean Light, though not the best, is adequate and presentable for most purposes. You can see them in action at Octopus Garden. Most other 48" fixtures with MH/PC or MH/T5 are in the $700-800 range, new. If you can be patient and don't mind buying used, keep hawking the classifieds here or on Socalireefs/ReefCentral and you will always find some great deals.

[schuyler5237]

what do you think of these

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...%3D4%26ps%3D42

[GoTakuF1]

Hmm...something doesn't seem right about that seller. For example, they give you this image of the fixture:



Then on the fourth image, they use this:



If you look carefully, they're not of the same fixture. It's actually the Aqua Medic Ocean Light stock image. They are either selling a very inexpensive Aqua Medic Ocean Light fixture or a knock-off. I don't know for sure, but personally, I would steer clear of these eBay deals.

[poakley723]

Well just a little bit from me on the odyesse halide. yes the balast is junk but the light fixture seems alright to me. decent aluminum housing. I actually figured it would be a piece of crap because you do get what you pay for. i say the balast sucks because i have had times where the halide did not turn on and i had to cycle the on/off switch. A new balast is definatly needed but the fixture seems pretty decent. I have had one for about 5 months

Good luck