Aquatraders.com?

[Whacked]

Chrome91:
Do you have or can borrow a kill-a-watt meter?

Really curious 'cause many say the ballasts are under-driven and usually swap them out with a different ballast.
However on nano-reef, one owner found the problem.
Brand new out of the box the 250w MH was pulling 123w. Opened up the ballast and did some searching and found there wasnt any thermal grease between the MOSFET and heatsink. Greased it up and viola,.. 247watts. (btw, not really a safety issue, after all, if no grease on your computers CPU, it goes funky or shuts down, same here only it reduces wattage to keep from overheating)
Just want to know if that was a isolated incident or common and a kill-a-watt is a easy check. if it aint pullin the wattage, no grease

 

[chrome91]

dont have one, but i can try to get my hands on one

 

[electricman]

i think iam going to try one of these lights on my tank? thanks for the input i got a 125 to i want more light on it this the cheaper way to go i let you know once i get it

 

[ewolfe315]

Hi everyone and happy new years.
I have had some expierience with this aqua traders on 2 occasions on ebay. The first time it involved the legs for the lights. One of the screws was snapped in half,no instructions of any kind. I caused havoc with paypal and he sent me a new set.
This 2nd time around was a beauty. The package arrived 3 days late and 1 of the 2 bulbs was busted. I emailed him about this and he tells me that I can purchase a replacement for $16.99. To avoid a battle I agreed.

Now I wanted this light here for christmas and when it came I was furious and some how i just calmed down. So I go plug the light in and here it does'nt work with 1 bulb in it. I then go to the other light that I had here and take 2 bulbs out and try it and still nothing,now that's it,filed 2 complaints with paypal. 1 for the light unit and 1 for the replacement bulb.

So here I am sitting at the kitchen table and I decide to take it apart. Here I find out 1 of the wires that goes to the on/off switch is'nt connected. I connect it,place 2 bulbs in and it works. I email him to tell him about the problem and 3 days later he gets back to me saying to bad that I am still not getting the replacement bulb. This led to the 2nd paypal complaint with this jerk. So right now I am contacting ebay about how fantastic this guy is,not.

So just be careful with this guy as he just try's to scam extra money off people. I'll never ever deal with him again.

 

[kragon]

I ordered my mh lights from aquatraders the plugs in it would short circut and start to smoke, but luckly my dads friend was an electrition and fixed it, very easily, now its been working ever since but eventually i plan i moving it to my 75 and getting a 72 inch for my 180 from coralife, hey its only a 1000 dollars

 

[aceman90567]

http://http://www.aquatraders.com/48-216w-ho-t6-light-fixture-advance.aspx

What do you think of this light. Some people said that they just had to open thte light up and fix it. I have a low fish tank budget so if i buy a light i want it to work for ever. Even if it means buying a 300 dollar setup.

 

[lcstorc]

I ordered my mh lights from aquatraders the plugs in it would short circut and start to smoke, but luckly my dads friend was an electrition and fixed it, very easily, now its been working ever since but eventually i plan i moving it to my 75 and getting a 72 inch for my 180 from coralife, hey its only a 1000 dollars

It isn't just money, it is your life. If it is shorting out and smoking that is one step away from burning down the house.
There is a much larger problem here than bad customer service.

 

[aceman90567]

WOW $1000
I would never spend that on a light.
What do you think of my lighting thoughts.

http://http://www.aquatraders.com/48...e-advance.aspx

What do you think of this light. Some people said that they just had to open thte light up and fix it. I have a low fish tank budget so if i buy a light i want it to work for ever. Even if it means buying a 300 dollar setup.

 

[lcstorc]

I guess you don't want to know about my Solaris.
This is an expensive hobby. Have you looked at replacement bulbs for even a cheap light?

 

[aceman90567]

Well i want a light so i can keep corals. And i want an anenome. So that is a bad light or is it fine for a 75 reef. I may only be keeping soft coral. If its easier than hard. They have a pretty big site so people must buy from them. I think it would be fine as long as you check the whole light before you plug it in for mistakes in the manufacturing.

 

[faust]

lynn wins the high dollar light award
i'm selling a 492 watt 48 inch m/h pc coralife fixture

 

[kragon]

well when the light came and it smoked and we fixed it they gave us back our money and we got to keep the light and been saving for a much better light but this one is still good

 

[lcstorc]

LOL, I don't think I win that award but it sure wasn't cheap. The plan is that it is going to save me money long term so I am treating it like an investment. So far, so good on that one.
Back to the original question. While I would avoid this particular company the question of what kind of light to get depends largely on what you want to keep. You will need a lot more lighting for an anemone or clam than what you would need for soft coral.
The first thing you need to decide is what you want to keep and then look at appropriate lighting for those animals.
Also keep in mind other costs such as the need to ofset the heat of MH as well as the cost of electricity and bulb replacement. The fixture itself is only one piece of the puzzle.

 

[aceman90567]

Ok thanks.
how many bulbs do i need for a 75 reef tank? A specific light idea would be nice.
I know this is spam but I am thinking of ordering form aquatraders to save money and just to fix the light. :goofy:
fishes rock!!

 

[lcstorc]

That all depends on what you want to keep.

 

[Varga]

I got the same chinese light as aquawhatever but I bought off ebay. almost 2 years and still rockin and rollin knock on wood

originally saved $1k by going with that brand

 

[wolverine57]

I had the 20" 175W HQI had it over for 2 yrs no problem, used on my 24 Aquapod...great fixture.

[/IMG]
Currently, have the 48" 2 x 250W HQI on my 140G Oceanic for almost a year. I replaced the ballast with a dual 250W e-ballast by coravue and replaced the bulbs with 14K Phoenix, so far so good.

 

[aceman90567]

I want to keep soft corals and anenomes. If i cani also want to keep hard corals but not really. I really want to get it at a good price. I looked on craigslist but didnt find anything worth driving five hours to pick up. Also i have a 75 gallon (48 inches). I am kinda interested in the retrofits but they dotn come in a good size for reef unless i get a meatal halide.

 

[jim2766]

How about their MH bulbs? I was looking into buying 3 150 watt double ended MH bulbs and have not seen any reviews on the bulbs themselves. Thanks in advance!

 

[mikejrice]

How about their MH bulbs? I was looking into buying 3 150 watt double ended MH bulbs and have not seen any reviews on the bulbs themselves. Thanks in advance!

IMO color is off. 15k bulbs are more like 10k, 20k more like 15k. Par value is low on them, but for the price they do work.