Anyone tried this lighting system?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
JasonG75;5007721; said:
False

some melt right away..
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Wrong

Plant melt can happen to any tank. Even tanks with the best lighting. It happens even when you have other plants growing well in the same tank. Plant melt has more to do with water chemistry then lighting alone. Most people discover there plants have melted after there lights have been off over night. Fertilizer have been linked to plant melt. Hard water can melt some plants. I will stand with my statement that plants can grow in all types of lighting. How well will they grow depends on the light you choose.
 
Let's just say that no plants grow in no light. Some plants melt sometimes. Duckweed is annoying. There, now everyone is happy, and all obvious statements are obvious.
 
aclockworkorange;5009641;5009641 said:
You favoring these guys over Catalina these days?
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No, I'd still choose Catalina since they use really good ballasts and better bulbs, but if you're on a budget, FNI lights are a really good choice. Much better than Odyssea.
 
jcardona1;5010868; said:
No, I'd still choose Catalina since they use really good ballasts and better bulbs, but if you're on a budget, FNI lights are a really good choice. Much better than Odyssea.
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Have you seen odyssea lights in person? I can't say anything for PAR ratings or other stuff but the lights themselves are pretty nice. I have the older models with internal ballasts though. I have a 48" quad T5HO and two 24" dual PC 65watts. They both include blue LED moonlights.
My next purchase will be a dual 48" T5HO Catalina though.
 
I just went and looked at the Catalina's. How the light looks from the underside looks just like Odyssey. The current lights that ebay seller Topdogsellers is selling i'm not sure there Odyssey unless they changed there bracket how it sits on the tank. The underside even looks different. He maybe selling a different brand now. But what I can see the Catalina look just like Odyssey from the bulb side. I'm sure there both made in China. I have Hagen T5HO fixture. Its an alright fixture just doesn't have an on/off switch. I also have Coralife T5HO fixture its ok too. They all grew my plants well. But for the money whichever current brand that ebay seller is selling is a great price for T5HO fixture.
 
MyGiants;5011936;5011936 said:
I just went and looked at the Catalina's. How the light looks from the underside looks just like Odyssey. The current lights that ebay seller Topdogsellers is selling i'm not sure there Odyssey unless they changed there bracket how it sits on the tank. The underside even looks different. He maybe selling a different brand now. But what I can see the Catalina look just like Odyssey from the bulb side. I'm sure there both made in China. I have Hagen T5HO fixture. Its an alright fixture just doesn't have an on/off switch. I also have Coralife T5HO fixture its ok too. They all grew my plants well. But for the money whichever current brand that ebay seller is selling is a great price for T5HO fixture.
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Catalina lights aren't made in China. Aren't you from the Sacramento area? I thought you would have known. Their facility here in Carmichael. They build all their lights by hand. I've been to their shop a few times, and have actually seen them making the reflectors on a big machine press. They use really good ballasts too, Advance brand. And the ballasts come with a 5yr warranty.

I would never buy a light that has a history of causing electrical fires (Odyssea).
 
aclockworkorange;5011815; said:
Have you seen odyssea lights in person? I can't say anything for PAR ratings or other stuff but the lights themselves are pretty nice. I have the older models with internal ballasts though. I have a 48" quad T5HO and two 24" dual PC 65watts. They both include blue LED moonlights.
My next purchase will be a dual 48" T5HO Catalina though.
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Yeah, I've seen the bulky plastic ones, and these newer slim metal ones. The metal ones actually look pretty good. Only way to know how they stack up to Catalina is to do a PAR test on both. But what I like about CA is that they come with a 5yr warranty on the ballast. Good luck getting that with Oddyssea!
 
jcardona1;5012284; said:
Catalina lights aren't made in China. Aren't you from the Sacramento area? I thought you would have known. Their facility here in Carmichael. They build all their lights by hand. I've been to their shop a few times, and have actually seen them making the reflectors on a big machine press. They use really good ballasts too, Advance brand. And the ballasts come with a 5yr warranty.

I would never buy a light that has a history of causing electrical fires (Odyssea).
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The only documented reports of electrical fires I've seen were from the really old metal halide units. Then it kind of got blown up as an urban legend IMO.

Like I said, next purchase will be from Catalina.
 
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