Lighting Q

Hey guys, some of you may know me. I haven't been on here in forever, haha... but anyways to my question. I want to buy the Odyssea T5HO (4 x 54w) fixture. I know some people don't like it very much... but it seems to be decent as far as the fixture itself. I was wondering if I buy the fixture and then I replace the bulbs, if it would make a difference? I've seen a few videos on YouTube and the corals seem to come out pretty nice. What do you guys think about it?

 

There are a few stories about problems with that brand
but not everyone has a negative experience with them

upgrading the lamps to ATI or Geisseman would be a good choice IMHO

Steve

 

Thanks Steve.

Ya, I was going to upgrade the lamps to ATI.

 

I have the fixture myself and it will work fine for LPS and softies, maybe SPS in the higher regions of the tank. I would definetly replace stock bulbs because they are crap

 

Hey little question..I heard that if you have a fixture that is not ATI then your not supposed to use ATI bulbs, because the ATI fixtures are made with such better ballasts, that its kinda pointless to spend the extra money on them, i heard the same about the geisseman..My friend in baton rouge owns a pretty successful fish store and he had gone to a seminar and it was brought up by somebody in the audience and thats the answer the speaker gave..I dont know the speakers name but im pretty sure it was one of the well known guys..And also the ATI bulbs can cause ballasts to burn out quicker because the ATI are designed or built or something differently than other brand bulbs..Is this true at all?? Thanks.

Or maybe the ATI's can handle more watts or something, anyway basically the answer was not to use ATI bulbs unless you have the ATI ballast..And Im pretty sure the same was said about Geisseman.

 

fish need it;lights; food;Sponge

Check them out. They have inexpensive fixtures and I have heard good reviews about them. I almost bought one, but decided to go with a 6 bulb instead by current. If I needed a new fixture, I'd probably get one. I did talk to the owner and he seems very nice.

 

I have some cheap odyssea fixtures with ATI bulbs in them and I've had no problem with the bulb/fixtures. They are cheap and you get what you pay for, but they will work. I would try to find some individual bulb reflectors as well as replacing the bulbs. While I have run these lights for over a year now, I have noticed some smaller things that I don't really like. Mine have no fans, so the run a little hot. They have one power switch, so you can't run your actinics on their own. They are a little bit of a pain to change the bulbs on, but over all considering I payed about 120$ for a 36in 4 bulb light they're not that bad.