Are these Odyssea lights any good?

Replacing the bulbs would happen within the first couple months if I bought this fixture. The guy at the LFS said because the ballasts are on the outside, no fan is needed. He also said you could use three different timers to work the LEDs, then blues, then whites, etc.

I heard these ballasts could catch on fire though?

 

From my experience they are not good at all, I had the metal halide version, when I got the wiring would short and cause smoke to come out. When I tried to call it was terrible customer service and had to repair it myself. You will get what you pay for and thats a cheaper and in my opinion unstable light.

 

http://www.3reef.com/forums/reef-lighting/30-odyssea-metal-halide-system-380w-review-60610.html

Little off topic (?) but a similar topic was discussed here. Im still new to this community, but this thread lead me to the site.

 

The last two posts refer to metal halide and have no bearing whatsoever on the item you are interested in. I have the 2x39w version that costs $50 and it was probably the best $50 I ever spent.

If you have a whole bunch of money then go out and get the latest model of name brand, but if you are on a budget, like the rest of the real world, then go with the Odyssea all day long!

 

But your talking about Metal Halide which is an entirely different ball game. The light that the OP is asking about has none of the problems you mention. (aside from perhaps the customer service part)

 

2 things , I have an oddysea 72 " Its great and I really like it....... but I have had mine for sometime now. The ballast went out on the Power compacts and I have been searching and searching for the replacement.

Something to consider.

The cooling fans seem to have a mind of thier own as well. Good light ( i would buy another ) but little difficult to find parts if needed

Jonathan

 

I have 2 of the 48" fixtures on my 75 gallon reef (only use 6 bulbs at one time) and have 2 clams that reside within 2 inches of the bottom of the tank and have for almost 2 years now. Nothing wrong with them at all.

 

I have the 24" one and love it. I just bought the 36" one like you are talking about for my 40g breeder. I will have it tomorrow. If you are looking for parts, go one ebay and search a company named TopDogSellers send them a message and tell them what you need, they can get it for you.

 

Why spent 800 dollars if i can get my light fixtures from Oddysea for $300 and comes with 2x 250 mh, 4x55 t5 and 4x(1 watt each) led. The ballast are on for 10 hours they are just slightly warm. Also the fixture is thin and looks nice.

 

i have the 24in 4x24 unit and it works just fine on my 20L