AquaTraders: Has anyone ordered from here before?

[mizah00]

Have anyone ordered from these guys before? I was looking at the metal halide 60" but it says electronic version. Do anyone know that means?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

I am ordering from them now... shipping is a monster but their prices can not be beat!

 

[mizah00]

They are offering free shipping right now on most items.

 

[brian01]

I'll second David's comment, I ordered a PC fixture from them a while ago - assembly was a mess. It not only didn't turn on, it was dangerous. Once I fixed the wiring, it worked fine, and the unit itself seemed OK. A bit noisy perhaps.

 

[thekid55]

all you need to know here

 

[theplatypus]

Thekid55;61846 wrote: all you need to know here
http://thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101447">http://thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101447</a>[/QUOTE]

Most of htose responses are in regards to their older magnetic ballast models. However, the par output on the new electronic ballasts is about 1/3rd of other ballasts. Remember you get what you pay for.

 

[triga22]

Ive ordered there alot of stuff. Its great the shipping is high but still worth it.

 

[dakota9]

PLEASE PLEASE reconsider ordering from them...... If the product is good, then alls fine, if you need to place a return, you get a long run around just to get a partial refund.....I ordered a crappy refugium from them that was missing parts. Took them 2 months to refund me a partial payment (minus "restocking" fees) I had to threaten them with a charge back on my card to get the partial payment. I just ordered a 24" MH light off ebay, has moonlights and 130watt actinic, shipping was free and it only cost me 179.00 total, I'll hook you up with which ebay seller if you want, but shipping only took 3 days as apposed to aquatraders 10 to 12 days.

 

[dakota9]

http://cgi.ebay.com/24-380W-Metal-Halide-Aquarium-Light-New_W0QQitemZ130137353656QQihZ003QQcategoryZ46314QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"><span style="color: #800080;">24" 380W Metal Halide Aquarium Light New - (item 130137353656 end time Jul-31-07 11:41:15 PDT)</span></a>

[IMG]http://cgi.ebay.com/36-442W-Metal-Halide-Aquarium-Light-New_W0QQitemZ130138129386QQihZ003QQcategoryZ46314QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"><span style="color: #800080;">36" 442W Metal Halide Aquarium Light New - (item 130138129386 end time Aug-02-07 15:52:51 PDT)</span></a>

I've personally purchased from Aquatraders and this particular Ebay seller, and hands down, this ebay seller is the way to go... Please bear in mind, I used to be a HUGE fan of aquatraders, but the company MUST have changed hands recently. They used to answer emails with-in 24 hours, now they dont answer at all. They lied to me about having mailed a returns form to me, as it never came in the mail. ........ just my thoughts, but if you order from Aquatraders.com, you'll be low-rating them to someone else in the furure too!

 

[schwaggs]

I have several T5 "strip lights" from Aquatraders. You get what you pay for with them. The fixture isn't very sturdy and the separate ballast is a pain. I never had to call customer service but I have read several horror stories with them.

 

[skriz]

there is a HUGE thread on RC about them and their new electronic lighting. Most people on RC are buying the fixtures to modify. They will sell you the fixtures without the ballast and discount the price, so you can replace it with an IC ballast and put in a quality bulb.

 

[cameron]

I have read through reams of posts about these guys. Shipping is a pain, support is limited at best but their products are on the upswing. Several people have had great success with the pumps, the new skimmers and the new MH lighting once wiring is checked out and factoring in a fan replacement along the way seems to be pretty good. I have seen PAR numbers from their new MH ballasts and they are actually inline with other MH budget ballasts. I have not seen T5 or PC ballast numbers however.

Shop with caution, but if you are on a budget I wouldn't write them off on some items.

 

[dakota9]

Just FYI, I'd heard about the MH's catching fire, but I truly remember reading that that problem had been fixed

 

[cameron]

Dakota9;62042 wrote: Just FYI, I'd heard about the MH's catching fire, but I truly remember reading that that problem had been fixed

This doesn't seem to be a problem any longer as long as you open up the unit and make sure the wiring is fastend securely.

 

[theplatypus]

Cameron;62034 wrote: I have read through reams of posts about these guys. Shipping is a pain, support is limited at best but their products are on the upswing. Several people have had great success with the pumps, the new skimmers and the new MH lighting once wiring is checked out and factoring in a fan replacement along the way seems to be pretty good. I have seen PAR numbers from their new MH ballasts and they are actually inline with other MH budget ballasts. I have not seen T5 or PC ballast numbers however.

Shop with caution, but if you are on a budget I wouldn't write them off on some items.

Not to be argumentative, but do you have a link? It's the exact opposite of what I've read. For example

To all those wondering whether it's a 250 watt ballast or not I can answer it. It is definitely a 250 watt. The ballasts just have a low power factor. To those using a Killawatt, check the power factor by pressing the Hertz button twice. I compared a 250 watt Odyssea to the 250 watt Aqualight Pro from Coralife. The Odyssea had a power factor of 0.63 while the Aqualight Pro had a power factor of 0.95 (1 is the best). This means that the Odyssea ballast sends back 0.37% of it's energy on alternating cycles to the supply. Which is why the Killawatt reads a lower wattage than expected since it was designed to measure actual energy usage. Coincidentally this means the ballasts are sending less power to the bulbs. I checked the PAR value at the bottom of a 75 gallon with an Apogee PAR meter in 6 places and averaged the results and got 93 with the Odyssea and 253 with the Aqualight Pro. Both were with the stock Odyssea/Coralife 10K bulbs.

 

[cameron]

My experience is not from the mouths of others... I saw the PAR readings under an actual fixture a few months back compared to a PFO HQI ballast. The PAR numbers were about 2/3 of the PFO, but PFO ballasts overdrive the crap out of a bulb and generally produce 30% or more PAR than the next ballast down. I certainly did see less PAR, but no less than what I believe comes out of other generic low cost ballasts.

As for the quote, I am not sure what he means. Did he compare the Odyssea fixture with Odyssea bulbs ot a Aqualight Pro with a Coralife bulb? Hell the bulb can make as big or bigger difference than the ballast in many cases. Also, did he measure the output voltage, resistence and amps of the ballast or just the input? Sounds like he measured the input which while a good indicator doesn't tell you how effecient a ballast truly is. The only fair test is to measure the same bulb, same fixture different ballasts. I saw a fairly unscientiffic test done and the ballasts performed no worse than expected.

 

[theplatypus]

Same bulbs different ballasts.

 

[juston51]

Hands down I think they are great. My 75gal reef tank lights came from Aquatraders and my 400gal fish only came from them. I have purchace a total of 4 fixtures from them. And recently got new bulbs for my reef tank. The bulbs work and look just as good as Coralife brand at over half the cost!! My Corals dont know the difference...or do they? :unsure:

 

[darren24]

Be afraid be very afraid. I ordered a PC fixture from them about 1 year ago. It worked for 5 minutes and then would not turn on. I tried to contact them by phone and email and received no response at all. I ended up having to contact my credit card company to get my money back. The light was a POS.

 

[cameron]

theplatypus;62325 wrote: Same bulbs different ballasts.

I think you are wrong... just a few posts below mine comes these posts:

Asking the original tester:

Just had another thought Andy, could you swap the ballasts and see what the aquatraders ballast pulls on the coralife and vise/versa? Just wondering if its the bulbs are doing it...not even sure if its possible for the bulbs to do it.

Original tester replies:

I could but I would have to rewire the ballasts to do so. I also would have to bypass the ignitor in the Coralife unit since the Odyssea ignitor is built into the ballast not the fixture like the Coralife. I can swap the bulbs from one fixture to the other. I will try that but I don't think the bulbs are affecting the ballast output.

He clearly compared one ballast and bulb combination to another and did not at least that I can find in subsequent posts try same bulb, same fixture. Later on he posted this:

Well I tried putting in the Coralife bulbs into my Odyssea fixture today and getting some PAR readings. One of the bulbs wouldn't light in the Odyssea fixture. Lights just fine in the Coralife fixture. The other bulb lit but had a power factor of 0.61. I didn't take the PAR readings as it would be unfair without both bulbs. I would have to assume that the low power factor of the ballast prevented the bulb from igniting.
P.S. having to pop out the LED's to change the bulb is a PITA. Actually pulled a wire from one of the LED's while trying to put it back and had to resolder it back together.

In my personal viewing, I did not see the Odyssea ballast having any problems firing the Ushio bulbs and the PFO ballast had no problems firing the Odyssea bulbs. The 10k Odyssea bulb did put out substantially lower PAR numbers and it is my understanding that the Odyssea bulbs are hit or miss when measuring one bulb to another.