Odyssea 30" 380W Metal Halide System with Power Compact

[LongIslandFirearms]

I have contact the manufacturer of this product informing them I will be conducting a complete review of this product and it will be posted publically.

Once the unit arrives, I will start my evaluation.

 

[Smitty]

Cool...keep us informed. There are a few of us looking at that fixture...including me.

 

[Hiker4twenty]

Yes, please keep the updates coming. I'm looking into that fixture as well. My brother has the 150w/T5 set up and it works great for him. Another friend of mine purchased the 36" 442w fixture so I'll be able to get some feedback from him as well and see the performance. Good luck!

 

[dcantucson]

Thank you.

 

[LongIslandFirearms]

Product Specification
• Light fixture (Approx. 30“x 15“x 3“)
• Support: 1x 250W DE HQI, 2x 65W Compact Fluorescent, 4x Dual
Bluemoon LED
• Non corrosive powder coated aluminum housing
• External HQI Ballast
• Internal Compact Fluorescent Ballast
• Built-in Cooling Fan
• Tempered glass lens and acrylic lens
• Individual power cords and on/off switches
• CE Certified
• Made in China
• 250W DE HQI Bulb 15K
• (2) 65W CF Bulb Actinic Blue
• (4) Dual Bluemoon LED
• Set of Mounting Legs

 

[LongIslandFirearms]

I've done some reading and it looks like I it requires a mod to fix some output issues:

Fix your Odyssea 250W Ballast for less than $15! - Nano-Reef.com Forums

 

[Hiker4twenty]

Just an update for this thread. My friend Mike got his new fixture on Friday. It's the 442w MH/PC setup. It looks and works great. He's very please with it so far and it really makes his tank pop. I'll definitely be ordering a fixture from them.

 

[Mog46g]

:sfish:Well i would be hiker's friends,So far so good with this fixture.i have already sent my father that link to look into the mod to fix the output,not sure if i am going to do it i want to research it more. I will say one thing the 36 inch 442/w mh/pc fixture does not fit well on a bow front tank .but that is totally my fault not there's,i will say aquatraders customer service is not that good so if u buy it from them do your research first so u dont have to call them,i mean price was great i got regular shipping and it was on time,it was package good nothing was broke or damaged i have a old odyessa light fixture given to me buy a friend when i first got into saltwater water about 6 months ago it was a 36 pc and they have def upgraded there products since that old light. i would say so far i would give this product a A+ i know there are horror stories out there about these lights but if u search hard enough u can find horror stories about any product.i am going to post a review about this in a couple weeks to give a follow up on this but am very happy with this light and my fish might be happier then i am...:helm2:

 

[Hiker4twenty]

:sfish:Well i would be hiker's friends,So far so good with this fixture.i have already sent my father that link to look into the mod to fix the output,not sure if i am going to do it i want to research it more. I will say one thing the 36 inch 442/w mh/pc fixture does not fit well on a bow front tank .but that is totally my fault not there's,i will say aquatraders customer service is not that good so if u buy it from them do your research first so u dont have to call them,i mean price was great i got regular shipping and it was on time,it was package good nothing was broke or damaged i have a old odyessa light fixture given to me buy a friend when i first got into saltwater water about 6 months ago it was a 36 pc and they have def upgraded there products since that old light. i would say so far i would give this product a A+ i know there are horror stories out there about these lights but if u search hard enough u can find horror stories about any product.i am going to post a review about this in a couple weeks to give a follow up on this but am very happy with this light and my fish might be happier then i am...:helm2:

Thanks for the feedback MP! How are the new additions to the tank doing? That crab is pretty cool!

 

[Mog46g]

working on getting a pic up by my camera battery is dead so it should be up by tonight... but the crab is good kinda jsut walks around and eats all day and bothers the starfish he thinks the starfish is his personal transport device but all and all they are happy and good even the yellow tail ...

 

[herefishyfishy]

Product Specification
• Light fixture (Approx. 30“x 15“x 3“)
• Support: 1x 250W DE HQI, 2x 65W Compact Fluorescent, 4x Dual
Bluemoon LED
• Non corrosive powder coated aluminum housing
• External HQI Ballast
• Internal Compact Fluorescent Ballast
• Built-in Cooling Fan
• Tempered glass lens and acrylic lens
• Individual power cords and on/off switches
• CE Certified
• Made in China
• 250W DE HQI Bulb 15K
• (2) 65W CF Bulb Actinic Blue
• (4) Dual Bluemoon LED
• Set of Mounting Legs

I just received this light Friday for my birthday and was so psyched to get it setup on my 56gal tall cube tank. I was in tears yesterday when I came home and the damn thing melted (but not completely through) my plastic tank brace. It sits about 4 inches above the water level and is sitting on the legs the light came with. Why would the manufacturer not specify that the metal halide must be sitting higher than what the legs are tall, in order to not have this happen? I am a newbie at this and didnt realize that metal halides would actually melt plastic. Now I know. What do I do to continue with this reef set up and fix this problem? I am seriously discouraged about the use of my new Metal Halide.

 

[BL1]

The reason there was nothing written about it is because most 30" tanks don't have a center brace so it's usually not an issue. In a 30" 56g tank you may be ok without having that center brace (but, Its hard to say for sure).

 

[Marines_Wife]

:shock:
Wow. I have no experience with this particular light but I am intrigued by the answer to this as well

 

[marcah]

I had a 55 that that had happened to and the pressure on top of it wasnt great but enough when full bowed the middle out about a half inch or so so I went to a weld shop and had him weld me up a quick frame then painted it black to match... :D

 

[irensing]

I blow a fan across my hallide to keep the heat down. Not sure if this would have helped but it's a little late for that. The glass looks thin on your tank. I can't really tell from the picture. I'm not sure if I'm thinking about this properly but maybe adding more rock and decreasing the water volume would reduce the pressure on the glass to the piont where you wouldn't need a brace. Also, you could possilbly reduce your water level for now until you find a solution, that is if the tank seems like it's under a lot of stress.

 

[herefishyfishy]

I had a 55 that that had happened to and the pressure on top of it wasnt great but enough when full bowed the middle out about a half inch or so so I went to a weld shop and had him weld me up a quick frame then painted it black to match... :D

I think this will be my solution, my Dad use to be a welder and can do this very easy. What kind of paint did you use?

 

[herefishyfishy]

Another thing, should I raise the light up to clear a foot between the light and the water surface for temperature purposes? I dont have a chiller nor do i want to spend the money on one. I would also like to keep my glass lids on my tank to prevent evaporation. Thoughts please.


And on off subject question.... What kind of protein skimmer do you recommend? I need one that wont take up to much room, fairly cheap, good quality though, and Im running a canister filter right now and plan on keeping it like that for awhile, so I cant have a huge skimmer. Preferrably one that goes inside the tank.

 

[Marines_Wife]

Another thing, should I raise the light up to clear a foot between the light and the water surface for temperature purposes? I dont have a chiller nor do i want to spend the money on one. I would also like to keep my glass lids on my tank to prevent evaporation. Thoughts please.


And on off subject question.... What kind of protein skimmer do you recommend? I need one that wont take up to much room, fairly cheap, good quality though, and Im running a canister filter right now and plan on keeping it like that for awhile, so I cant have a huge skimmer. Preferrably one that goes inside the tank.

Your name cracks me up, just putting that out there LOL
What is your temp at now with the light where it is? as long as you are at most like 81 you should be fine. I thought I would need a chiller with mine and in all honesty I dont and I have big lights on there. The glass wouldnt be a bad idea, it would certainly help with evap and jumpers however maybe you should test the theory first and see how hot your water gets with a lid on it like that.

With you running a canister filter, which after doing some serious reading and educating on this forum is NOT the recommended filtration system for our tanks, I believe the only option you currently have is a HOB skimmer. I know people here like Amber have an Octopus and love it. I have a CPR and although we didnt get along at first, we have come to terms and are now friends :D
Honestly I know a great many people who run their tanks on skimmers and powerheads alone and I have joined the ranks of people who do that. Canister filters werent really designed for Marine aquariums and youll argue with your tank alot because of it

 

[BL1]

You can raise the light up if you want but, leaving it where it is doesn't mean it's heating up your tank (I've got that same fixture but with 2x250w bulbs and it doesn't raise my tank temp at all).

You do not want to leave the glass lids on, for q couple reasons. One, leaving them on will actually heat your tank up even more, evaporation keeps your tank at a cooler temp. Two, you're going to have salt creep and water build up which is going to block light from your fixture making it considerably less effective. Three, with a lack of fresh air available to your tank, you're going to affect your pH keeping it lower then it would normally be. And four, you're going to have poor oxygen exchange at the surface of the water with tops on meaning there will be less oxygen in the water for your fish and other things in your tank. IMO ditch the glass covers and just top off more often.

 

[marcah]

reef octopus makes a real nice skimmer and I agree leave the lids off you can always use some screening to cover the top if needed..