odyssea PCs

[mandarin11]

Hey guys,

I have a question on the odyssea compact fluorescent lights. I'm looking at the 48" 260W lighting system, 48" 260W (4-65 watt) Dual Strip Compact Fluorescent Light Fixture - 501031
Is this one any good at all for a 55g reef tank? I'm interested in the beginner mushroom and soft corals, nothing complex.

I've heard mixed reviews on the odyssea lights, but it seems like all the bad reviews have been about the mh's, not the pc's. So do you guys think that I'm good with these?

And for all the hard core reefers out there I know that MH's are the way to go, but they're expensive and I'm a poor starving college student so bear with me pls.

[lunatik_69]

Hey mandarin11, I have a Odyssea 48" MH's and I love them, so far. The only thing That I had to do was replace the cooling fans. I installed more of them. I dont have any exp. with the pc version, but keep in mind that if you want to have all kinds of corals in the near future, you might want to save up and just get the MH's from the start. Look on ebay and look for a guy by the name of hombby, he has all the sizes.

[Twan013]

i don't really have an experience with either oddysea, or PC lights... i was gonna buy the same setup you are looking at for my 55 gallon in the very beginning, but it was at a LFS, and they wanted 400 bucks for it (salty tanks aren't big around here, so the stores jack up prices like a you-know-what).. i inquired about aquatraders a while back, and i was told that they sell so cheap because they replace the original lights with inferior ones... oh yeah! i remember something i was told about oddysea! take note, this is the old models, i think they changed it though.. they used to use cheap ballasts that were prone to causing fire and stuff... if you want lights now, and can add a hundred to that price, i'd recommend the Current USA Nova Extreme T5-HO with lunar lights (4x54w).... i might even be willing to sell mine to ya for $150... i got it in january, and used it up until last month. I couldn't upkeep the aquarium, and had to shut it down... but now i'm thinking about upgrading to a 75 gallon, and fitting MH's over it (for all of those who have read my other posts on the subject, yes, you heard it right! i may actually convert!)

[mandarin11]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think I'm going to go with the PCs and hope for the best. I wish I could get MHs, but I'm a poor starving college student so for right now, the limit is PC.

[ziggy222]

do a search and read up on customer satisfaction on odysea lights and aquatraders who sells the most of them.thats all i'll say