Fuming Mad

[debbie]

Well what I thought was a good thing for my 5 gal nano has turned out to me not so. I bought 3 months ago the Current USA Nova Extreme 18" 18 watt T5HO. I now find out after they told me they always have this fixture and bulbs in stock you cannot get bulbs for it anymore here in Canada. They claim that Current USA is switching to TrueLumen brand bulbs, but they have told me good luck getting them here in Canada, so now tomorrow I am going to get the info to send this fixture back of course at my cost and I am so mad.
Now I would like to know about the Oceanic 8 gallon biocube. Anyone have this tank and what are your thoughts on the lighting system and the tank itself without doing any modifications to it at all. I am so turned off with this whole thing, we don't have alot of choices like in the USA and I am not ordering bulbs from the USA either for this fixture I currently have.
I am ready to tear the tank down and put my 3 favorite zoa frags into my 1 gal I had going with my 18 watts of pc lighting.
Sorry for venting but this is just crazy

 

[tracher]

in a biocube 8 i think that you cannot have sps so you can only have lps and soft corals.. but i do like the blue lights that come with it. in the filtration there is bioballs and most people say to take them out nissan has a thread on how to make a fuge in the back of one

 

[nikesb]

you can keep sps if you switch to an led fixture or get some par38 bulbs. uvl now has new bulbs for the smaller current fixtures so you might want to find that

 

[flower]

I don't understand...Are you upset because you would have to order the bulbs? Or are the bulbs not being made by anyone anymore?
I always have to order my bulbs. Before sending the fixture back Google and see if you can find the bulbs elseware. It won't matter if it is Canada, will it?

 

[debbie]

Yes I am upset about getting replacement bulbs for this fixture. I do not want to have to order them from the US as the shipping to Canada is not cheap.
Both the sites I ordered this fixture from which I cannot put the name here are sold out of this fixture as well as the bulbs. I have contacted Current USA to see what is going on and waiting for a reply.
The place I bought the fixture from said they have replacement bulbs in the back by the name of TrueLumen and they are replacing the current usa bulbs.
I then get an email from another worker at this place saying they don't have these bulbs and don't know if and when they will be coming in.
All their current usa fixtures are currently on sale so that should tell one something too.
I am going to phone this place and ask them again and probably return the fixture at my cost, its no good to me if I cannot get bulbs for it. I have googled here in Canada and the smallest we carry is the 24" and I need the 18".
I guess lesson learned the hard way.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by Debbie
http:///forum/post/3282886
Yes I am upset about getting replacement bulbs for this fixture. I do not want to have to order them from the US as the shipping to Canada is not cheap.
Both the sites I ordered this fixture from which I cannot put the name here are sold out of this fixture as well as the bulbs. I have contacted Current USA to see what is going on and waiting for a reply.
The place I bought the fixture from said they have replacement bulbs in the back by the name of TrueLumen and they are replacing the current usa bulbs.
I then get an email from another worker at this place saying they don't have these bulbs and don't know if and when they will be coming in.
All their current usa fixtures are currently on sale so that should tell one something too.
I am going to phone this place and ask them again and probably return the fixture at my cost, its no good to me if I cannot get bulbs for it. I have googled here in Canada and the smallest we carry is the 24" and I need the 18".
I guess lesson learned the hard way.

Everything in Canada looks like it costs more. Just curious..what does the bulbs cost if they were on sale like originally promised compared to the cost if you have to order them?

 

[nikesb]

anyone that carries UVL bulbs in canada should be able to order you the new 18" bulbs from them. They're new so not man know about them. Contact an LFS and tell them about it

 

[debbie]

Yes things cost alot here in Canada for anything Saltwater, hence the amount of people shutting down their systems in my area is huge.
I just phoned this place I bought the fixture from and they assured me the bulbs are in the warehouse they just need to post them to the site which will be today, I was told this 2 weeks ago too. But the fellow I ordered this from sent me a picture of the bulbs for my fixture but whos to say he did not get this pic of the bulbs elsewhere. I guess I will just have to take his word for it and see what happens. As for cost of them I don't have a clue what they are going to be charging for them as that is not posted yet.
But Current USA no longer makes my fixture and they no longer sell their sunpaq bulbs etc either. Apparently they and another company are making these new bulbs that will fit all current usa fixtures as well as other brands of T-5 fixtures and they are called TrueLumen they are not 10,000k but are 12,000k which they claim is better for saltwater.
I am very upset with this place and wanted to return this fixture to be safe but as long as they have bulbs for it they cannot refund me. So I guess time will tell if they do have these bulbs or not and they say if they don't have the bulbs they will refund my money. By then I might have already sold the system I have anyways, very discouraging indeed.
We don't have many stores here anymore and one of our saltwater stores just shut the doors two days ago. I have tried other areas around even the big city of Vancouver and they don't carry those either. If they don't carry the brand of fixture they don't bring in stuff due to the cost.
So ya freshwater will always survive here in Canada saltwater is another story.

 

[goobe]

Ive never been the the West end of canada, but in Toronto and i can name about 6 places that have salt water fish/equipment. I think that the SW hobby is getting more popular as ppl become more aware of how amazing the tanks are.
I agree that its going to cost more to buy things here then say a warmer state in the US. Thats understandable when you think of how far they have to ship these fishys, espeshally when its a cold winter(heater pack).
But really shipping isnt THAT expensive and if you buy in bulk its sometimes free.
Personally i would just buy 3-4 bulbs from the US instead of dumping the whole lighting system. If you were thinking of switching the whole T5HO system to say MH then sure but if you going to buy another T5HO imo id buy the bulbs and suck up the shipping cost.
anyways that my 2 cents.

 

[debbie]

Well after much waiting and talking with the place i bought this fixture from they assured me they have the new bulbs in stock and current usa emailed me saying they had shipped these bulbs to this place as well. Yes they no longer make these fixtures don't know why but I am still not totally happy about this all.
Today they put on the web site the place i bought the fixture from the bulbs for my fixture only, what about the other current usa fixtures out there i would have to ask. It seems really fishy to me but they do have them they are called True Lumen 12000k T5 HO and then there is an actinic one as well. They are 27.99 each CDN I will keep this fixture for now, if they dont carry the bulbs at a later date I will just sell the fixture or put it on a freshwater tank as I can get those type of bulbs from any of our lighting stores they just don't carry the 10,000 12,000k or actinic lighting as I have checked before.
So things are not so bad I guess, thanks all for listening to my venting of frustration.