First off want to upgrade to 250W Halides and found these:
http://www.aquatraders.com/48-760w-metal-halide-system-electronic-ballast.aspx
Any other deals? Or input?
Second my Hippo Tang has a white clump on it’s dorsal about mid-way back. Fin Rot or Lymph? Had the fish in QT for bout 2 weeks now and it’s grown 2mm but not spread to body.
Pix soon to come…
Thats the EXACT fixture i have. It also happens to be the EXACT same as the coralife fixture. Here’s the deal. The ballasts are ok, not the best, but with good bulbs they will do. The bulbs are mediocre at best. The PCS really suck. I used everything stock for a year and got my moneys worth. I then upgraded the ballasts to Icecaps. Recently, i gutted all of the PCs and installed 2 48" Icecap SLR VHO T5s with a 660 ballasts. So, for $800i now have a VERY nice fixture with 2X250W Icecap driven MH, two overdriven 54W T5 with SLRs on the almighty Icecap660, and 8 very nice LED moonlights. Not to mention that i sold the oddeyssa ballasts for $100. To get anything even close to being comprable i would have to spend around $1200
[quote=“logans_daddy, post:2, topic:802”]
To get anything even close to being comprable i would have to spend around $1200[/quote]
Wouldn’t just retrofitting it into your hood be cheaper then buying a fixture and getting rid of 90% of the parts? New ballast, new bulbs… all that was left were the reflectors and wires right? Is it worth that much for the reflectors and wires if SnEaKyPoLoCk is starting from scratch? Are the reflectors of good quality?
[quote=“Gordonious, post:3, topic:802”]
Wouldn’t just retrofitting it into your hood be cheaper then buying a fixture and getting rid of 90% of the parts? New ballast, new bulbs… all that was left were the reflectors and wires right? Is it worth that much for the reflectors and wires if SnEaKyPoLoCk is starting from scratch? Are the reflectors of good quality? [/quote]
If you like the look of a fixture (vs. canopy), what Shawn did rocks. IMHO
Did you look at the link Jon?
For $329 you get a VERY nice HIGH quality fixture with 4 seperate powercords, awesome moonlighting, and fans. Thats worth the price of admission right there…oh yeah, plus you get 2 X 250MH bulbs, 4 X 65W PC bulbs, 2 X 250 MH ballasts, and 4 PC ballasts FREE! They are far from the best, but they are not worthless. There are a lot of advantages to doing it his way. You would be very hard pressed to even coming close to what i spent on my fixture with an equivalent retrofit. And that doesnt even take into consideration that i got a years use out of the bulbs and was able to sell my stock odeyssa ballasts for $100. It only cost me $140 to upgrade from the stock ballasts to icecaps! Oh yeah, i was able to use $1 endcaps instead of the expensive waterproof endcaps, not to mention that having my retrofits in a fixture means i will never have to deal with saltcreep and pitted reflectors.
It is my understanding that many people have had reliability issues when dealing with Aquatraders. The equipment is decent but the service, and apparently ability to ship merchandise is lacking. Again, this is hear-say as I have not dealt with them. I would reccomend (as with any company) doing your research before doing business with them.
You can often find the same fixture from manny different vendors on Ebay at or about the same price point.
I got my first fixture from them and it got here promptly and bunch of koralias. I go back to these guys cause they have worked well for me so far!
I’ve ordered two fixtures from them with no issues. I also ordered a pack of extra bulbs, and one was broken upon arrival. Trying to get a replacement was a bit rough.
[quote=“SnEaKyPoLoCk, post:7, topic:802”]
I got my first fixture from them and it got here promptly and bunch of koralias. I go back to these guys cause they have worked well for me so far![/quote]
Like I said, just passing along reviews I have read in the past. I have never dealt with them so I do not have my own opinions.
Aquatraders are a powerseller on ebay as well, i forget their username. Apparently its a giant chinese-owned lfs/importer in california that sells under mutiple names. Kind of the way glasscages sells under a different name on ebay. If you have the choice, always go through ebay/paypal. You have more protection as a consumer.