Lights???

[McCrary]

kriscat2003- If the little things don't make a difference to you then thats good, don't think that I am trying to dissuade you from the light or tell you that the purchase is a bad one, I'm not trying to do either. But I will inform you of possible differences between ebay lights and name brand lights. The bulbs that ebay lights use often have a more yellow look to them and often have far less PAR than other lights, which simply means less power. This is not something the average hobbyist is going to notice. The ballast often run much hotter and can burn out more quickly. The fixtures can have inadequate fans which means they run hotter and that can be problematic. The fixtures may also corrode more quickly from being made of lesser materials (mainly cheaper steels that oxide more easily). Like I said above, I think for that price it may well be worth it, but I just be aware that the fixture may have some limitations.

[fatman]

Originally Posted by McCrary

kriscat2003- If the little things don't make a difference to you then thats good, don't think that I am trying to dissuade you from the light or tell you that the purchase is a bad one, I'm not trying to do either. But I will inform you of possible differences between ebay lights and name brand lights. The bulbs that ebay lights use often have a more yellow look to them and often have far less PAR than other lights, which simply means less power. This is not something the average hobbyist is going to notice. The ballast often run much hotter and can burn out more quickly. The fixtures can have inadequate fans which means they run hotter and that can be problematic. The fixtures may also corrode more quickly from being made of lesser materials (mainly cheaper steels that oxide more easily). Like I said above, I think for that price it may well be worth it, but I just be aware that the fixture may have some limitations.

They also are typically not serviceable if you do have problems as they are sold without the makers having establishes contracts with any US firms to supply parts or service. Seldom are bulbs or replacements parts even avialable for persons you have enough electronics experience to do the repairs themselves. They are essentially pirated lights, as in pirated CD's. European aquarium equipment is often very good, but often unless bought from major US firms the parts and service for them is also unavailable, and they usually cost more than US sold equipment. Some times this does not matter as someone mightget theirmoneys worthout of the equipment before any parts or service is needed. Oftenthis is not he case and people are stuck with unusable equipment. There are many cases where even US distributed/manafactured equipment is noperable upon receipt. US distributers are available an generrally they hurriedly see that the equipment is replaced or repaired.

[lightcs4]

I just received a 442 watt set from the same place. They appear to be Odyssea brand lights, of which I have heard good and bad. The ballast ran cool for the couple hours I left them on and the lights appear to be OK. They also didn't produce as much heat as I expected, although I still changed the glass top for a vented top (made from the lighting egg-crate). I am very new to reefing (kept saltwater fish only for a couple years) so I can't comment on how the quality compares to other vendors.

That said, while I took the chance, I would still normally recommend and lean toward a known, reputable, name brand light. I asked the E-bay vendor for the manufacturer and the answer was "a generic light made in china" (I also prefer to support American companies, but that's my own personal preference). Also, as Fatman pointed out, I really hope I don't have to find out what kind of service is available for the system.

[fatman]

This link is the Home Page for the manufacturer of Odyssea lighting and other Odyssea aquarium products. Yes, it is in China.
http://odyssea.en.ec21.com/company_info.jsp