# hobbylighting T5 HO light fixtures... ebay $100 4x54HO T5



## Canadianbettas

Has anyone bought / have any experience with this fixture from this member on ebay : hobbylighting?

Here's a link of something I am interested in..

would like to get some opinions...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280788524598?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Package include:

1 x 48" T5 HO Quad Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting fixture.
2 x 54W T5 HO 12000K bulb. (6700K and pink bulb is also available upon request)
2 x 54W T5 HO Actinic bulb. (6700K and pink bulb is also available upon request)
2 x Mounting brackets.
4 x Dual LED moon lights.
Acrylic Anti-splash Guard

Features:

Compact design contains everything you need for a perfect aquarium lighting set up.
216W power output in total.
Flip-style adjustable mounting bracket (3 inches high) can lift upto maximum angle of 90 degrees.
Individual power cord controls T5 bulb, Actinic bulb, and LED lights respectively.
Equipped with high efficiency aluminum reflector, non-corrosive powder coated aluminum housing.
Dual LED moon lights provide good performance during night.
Dimensions: 47.5" x 7" x 2.75".

I'm gonna want 6700k bulbs instead ..

Hope this is the right forum  thanks


----------



## coldmantis

Kevin Be our guinea pig and go buy one then do a review like flyinghellfish did with the ai regulator 
I had a customer come before and told me about it, he said they were great and the warehouse is in mississauga, you can actually go and pickup there if you can't wait for the shipping. I wanted to get one but all they have is 4 bulbs and I only wanted a 2 bulb fixture for the slimness and I only have swords in the tank I wanted to use it on.


----------



## Canadianbettas

coldmantis said:


> Kevin Be our guinea pig and go buy one then do a review like flyinghellfish did with the ai regulator
> I had a customer come before and told me about it, he said they were great and the warehouse is in mississauga, you can actually go and pickup there if you can't wait for the shipping. I wanted to get one but all they have is 4 bulbs and I only wanted a 2 bulb fixture for the slimness and I only have swords in the tank I wanted to use it on.


Yea.. I am thinking about it.. good price... I just hope its not bad quality.. break in a day.. / poor ballast, reflectors etc... lol


----------



## shadow_cruiser

This looks very interesting indeed. Anyone willing to buy the first one?. They have been around a long time and are popular within the reef community. Here's one thread I could find about them.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=73551

You probably won't see much interest on planted tank since Odyssea is the preferred "cheap" brand as it's free shipping in the united states.


----------



## Tim

Someone already bought one.

Apparently they get quite hot because they don't have fans.

http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31596


----------



## Canadianbettas

Blah I decided to buy one of these
Running 4x T5 HO gets EXTREMELY hot and I am afraid it will burn... smellls too! If I set my Fixture to shut off 2 bulbs for a hour then the other two for a hour I suppose that would help... but 4xt5 is too much for my tank anyways


So I switched to 3x T5 HO and it does get hot by the end of the day, but not as hot as running all 4.. by then it shuts off.. so I guess thats alright I'm scard to run it long. I have them shut off for a hour just to help with the heating

I am not impressed the material looks real cheap.. and flimsy... 

Well however well see how my planted tank does.. 

I suppose you pay for what you get right?


----------



## splur

Yikes, no fan? I'd put 2 in just to be safe.


----------



## joe

if anyones looking for a 4 bulb t5ho you can go to home depot and buy a 4 bulb ballast HO for 129.99

i was thinking of getting one im not sure yet thou


----------



## Fishyfishyfishy

Just use a timer and turn it off for a hour.


----------



## shadow_cruiser

Just wanted to chime in here that the Odyssea 4x54 T5HO fixtures are finally back in stock. I personally rather spend the extra $45 and get the Odyssea which includes fans + many users using it.

http://www.aquatraders.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=52325P&CartID=1


----------



## Tim

shadow_cruiser said:


> Just wanted to chime in here that the Odyssea 4x54 T5HO fixtures are finally back in stock. I personally rather spend the extra $45 and get the Odyssea which includes fans + many users using it.
> 
> http://www.aquatraders.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=52325P&CartID=1


Agreed. Mine came in last week and have 0 complaints so far.


----------



## joe

anyone buy those odeysse lights ?

whos had them for a long time are they good? what do you keep do you grow plants?

do you have c02? is it a quality ballast with fans?

is it metal or plastic? is it realistically better than a shop light from rona? or is it more crap from ebay lol


----------



## Fishyfishyfishy

What about the customs and stuff?? What are the experiences with that?


----------



## Tim

I just bought from aquatraders.

I bought the quad t5 with moonlights and timer, cost $105 + $34.95 shipping

I did not have to pay any GST, customs fees or brokerage fees. They shipped via USPS. USPS ships it up to Canada (B.C.) then Canada Post delivers it. 

Looking at the shipping label

they show a value of $100
postage $48.74
contents marked as merchandise


If you get anything shipped by fedex or UPS you will get charged a brokerage fee. No idea how much


----------



## joe

most of the time when you order something and it crosses borders youll have a little fee to pay sometimes youll get a nice 50 dollar bill with shipping. 

but the site sais its free shipping so maybe they pay? but for 109 i doubt it


----------



## Tim

nope nothing. 

Go look at the other thread linked in a previous post of mine and others have said the same thing. Not saying it won't happen but it hasn't yet 

And it depends what bill. As I mentioned if you use Fed ex it is very common to get a bill later for broker fees.


----------



## coldmantis

I have 2 oddysea fixtures the old type without timer and the ballast is external so less heat. I had both for around a year

24" double T5HO
-don't like the extender/legs could of been done better so that you can get some height when mounting on your tank
-I find changing bulbs hard since it's so slim and compact
-crappy single chrome paper type reflectors

36" quad T5HO with moon lights
-don't like the extender/legs could of been done better so that you can get some height when mounting on your tank
-crappy single chrome paper type reflectors

grows all my plants fine even UG, best bang for buck. Bottom line would I consider buying the newer models with ballast built in + timer, well I been looking at it for the pass week sooooo.... most likely.


----------



## shadow_cruiser

See my post here on my opinion about these lights
http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showpost.php?p=233125&postcount=9

Keep in mind the majority of the reviews (over 90%) you'll read is from the old design. They have changed things a lot (for the better) and their new lights are far superior. You could also go with the tried and tested fishneedit lights. Customer service is exceptional with Simon. A few weeks ago I sent an email asking if he changed the design and made the reflectors for the T5's individual as opposed to one whole piece. He sent me an email a couple hours later mentioning he didn't understand what I meant. I didn't respond back. Then an hour later he sent me 6-7 high resolution pics of the latest T5's housing asking what I meant

No one has had to pay duty on anything from aquatraders yet, probably due to them using USPS as their shipping provider. If it were UPS, FEDEX, DHL, etc, duty would be half of what the light cost.

Keep in mind, aquatrader has really bad customer service. It takes over a week to receive an email from them. They have live support but its always offline. They have an actual phone number, which is good, never used it though.


----------



## coldmantis

I can comment about their customer service, one of my ballast died, which was my fault. my eheim double tap leaked a little onto the ballast which fried it. I call their number and spoke to some lady and told them my ballast died and if it's under warranty. she checked and said it was and since I was in canada I didn't have to ship it back to them because it will cost me too much. so she said just send them $10 threw paypal and they will ship the replacement ballast to me asap.


----------



## Canadianbettas

Yea I use a timer to shut off for a hour mid day. Seems to not get as hot by the end of the day :/ so that helps alot


I would of bought oddysea .. if I knew there wasn't gonna be extra taxes at the door.. :/ aw well !


----------



## shadow_cruiser

Canadianbettas said:


> I would of bought oddysea .. if I knew there wasn't gonna be extra taxes at the door.. :/ aw well !


My rule of thumb is, if it's shipped by USPS, you can be safe to say there's no taxes. Any other courier and you're looking at an extra cost.


----------



## Greg_o

Not true. 

Monday I paid ~$50 in duties and taxes to Canada Post for shipment sent from the US by USPS (USPS hands it over to CP to deliver in Canada)


----------



## Tim

Greg_o said:


> Not true.
> 
> Monday I paid ~$50 in duties and taxes to Canada Post for shipment sent from the US by USPS (USPS hands it over to CP to deliver in Canada)


What was the merchandise value? I noticed on mine they dropped it from 105 to 100. Not a lot by any means but perhaps low enough that they didn't bother?


----------



## Canadianbettas

I ordered with usps in the past had extra charges... and sometimes no charges.. depending on whats its marked as gift/merch/etcetc/ and how much they put for the value...


----------



## shadow_cruiser

I ordered another 48" T5HO light from Aquatraders. I made a mistake on my shipping address by not putting the apartment number. Not sure how they figured it out it was a condo but 20 minutes after I placed the order, I got a call from Aquatraders asking to confirm my shipping address since the apartment number was missing. I also asked about duties and they said the shipment is valued at $100, which is the limit for USPS, resulting in no duties. The girl on the other line was really friendly. Looks like the phone service is really good but email is not existent.


----------



## Tim

cool so the 100 on my transit bill is explained 

And yes, their email service sucks.


----------



## shadow_cruiser

Aquatraders called me again today because they don't ship to your address if it's different from the billing address. First time this has ever happened to me. Gotta wait till April to grab my light from Mississauga:S


----------



## MsGardeness

Tim said:


> I just bought from aquatraders.
> 
> I bought the quad t5 with moonlights and timer, cost $105 + $34.95 shipping
> 
> I did not have to pay any GST, customs fees or brokerage fees. They shipped via USPS. USPS ships it up to Canada (B.C.) then Canada Post delivers it.
> 
> Looking at the shipping label
> 
> they show a value of $100
> postage $48.74
> contents marked as merchandise
> 
> If you get anything shipped by fedex or UPS you will get charged a brokerage fee. No idea how much


I also ordered from AquaTraders.com. I placed the order March 7th. Phoned on April 2nd to enquire about order status. They told me it had been O/S and was just shipped March 29th. Website never said it was O/S when I placed the order. Item arrived at post office April 11th and I had to pay $29 and change for "GST/HST and Handling Fee". It was shipped USPS. Shipping label shows -
a total value of $160 (!)
postage $53.49
contents marked as merchandise.

I am not happy about having to pay the $29 and change. I will be putting the light on my aquarium this weekend - it better be good.


----------



## Fishfur

Based on a variety of things I have ordered from the US, not necessarily aquarium stuff, it seems to be a bit of 'luck of the draw' whether you get dinged for extra fees or not. If the declared value, which is what the shipper chooses to put on the label, is under $100., then there's no duty, I believe. But technically ANYTHING you buy that 's delivered in Ontario, from anywhere, is subject to a $5. handling fee and Ont/Fed taxes.. the HST, iow. I've had packages come with no fees, some where the shipper collected the tax and fee at checkout and presumably forwarded them to Canadian officials, some where I got nailed for duty too. A good friend of mine sent me a used CD burner some years ago, marked it as a gift, which it was, but put a value on it for what it would have cost to replace it new.. and I got dinged for nearly as much as new one would have cost me. I was so mad, I nearly pitched it at a wall. Sigh.. but I didn't because childish displays of bad temper are quite pointless. I think it often depends who you buy from, as well as what you buy. My last purchase was a fancy calcium supplement, a value under $100., and it arrived from the US next day, which blew my mind, and no fees whatsoever. That was nice. The supplier offers a discount if you buy at least a dozen bottles, but if I do that, I would guess I'll get dinged, cause that'll put the value up over $200... so it's likely cheaper to pay more per unit but pay no fees on delivery.


----------



## falcans

just a recall do not buy!

IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTICE

RE: UNAPPROVED ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS, GARDEN AND AQUARIUM LIGHTS AND LIGHTING EQUIPMENT SOLD IN THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO, CANADA

Dear customers,

Please be advised that Britemore Lighting Inc. is announcing an important safety notice to inform all the customers who had purchased the following unapproved electrical products to disconnect and stop using the products.

Those products include:

1, AQUARIUM LIGHTING FIXTURES, 24', 30", 36", 48", 60" & 72".

2, T5 GROW LIGHT PANELS, 24" & 48".

3, 1000W MH & HPS SWITCHABLE BALLAST.

These products do not bear the marks or labels which show the equipments are approved to Canadian Standards. You may return the products back to us for refund.

For more information, please contact us at 905-501-9826 or [email protected]

Thank you for your understanding and continued support for Britemore Lighting.

--

Thanks and best regards,

Britemore Lighting Inc.

They have a ebay store
http://www.ebay.ca/sch/hobbylighting...4.l1513&_pgn=1

I bought these lights i told them about how hot it was and it was illegal i sold them because they would never gave me a refund some guy bought them and put in cooling fans!! There wasnt even 1 cooling fan on these lights!!

beware


----------



## coldmantis

wow thanks for the info


----------

