EDITORIAL
I found a an interesting post on an aquarium forum where the writer used incorrect personal attacks to dispute my information.
Here is the ridiculous post from 3reef.com/forums (dated 6/27/12):
“I always take articles such as these with a grain of salt. First the writer of this article does not even have nor has ever had the fixture in question [TaoTronics]. Seems they are relying on what someone else has told them. Also advertising on this site for other led company’s leads me to believe there may be alot of bias.”
My Response
First as per bias, of coarse I have a bias (hence “Aquarium Opinions”), but my bias is based on what is proven to work both in investigative research and in hands on observations.
Second; yes I have not used the TaoTronics, but as I clearly state this review is based on investigative research and OTHERS in the professional aquarium keeping community that have. Why should I waste my client’s money on crap I know others have had less than desirable results with??? I meet and speak with others in my business to share such information so that we mutually learn from each other.
Third; What Advertising????
I have no advertising or links to pages selling anything, only links to other related articles.
I make NO Money off this website/blog, and in fact if I have any motive it is that I am tired of the BS that is slung around in this hobby as facts.
My talents are not in websites/blogs, as it shows, rather practical and honestly profitable fish keeping. By profitable, I mean that I keep my customer happy via results, and I have not lost a client EVER to another maintenance company!!
This guy clearly needs to use common logic and stop attacking others with “straw man arguments” when he happens to disagree.
My Aquarium Opinions 
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I have a 90 reef with a maxspect razor on it and now i am setting up a 125 mixed reef. I need a light for this tank and have been doing a lot of reading on the Aquaray. Do you feel these would be the best choice and if you do, what would you recommend for a 125 (72x18x21)?
I think AquaRay are one of the best choices among others. If the reef is more basic, 3 units tiles would work. If the reef is more advanced with hard corals, 4 tiles may be needed.
I did send 2 emails to TMC Aquaray using the contact on their web site, never got a reply. Recently i took the plunge and ordered one Gro Beam 600. I am in Canada, so i ordered from J&L Aquatics. They seem to be the only one distributing Gro Beams in Canada.
My tank is 36″ X 18″ X 24″ high. I have one Beamswork 2nd gen led fixture, good only for really low light plants. I did add one Finnex Ray 2 DS 7000K in may 2014, the fixture was cheap, but the result did not impress me either, growth of the bacopas, ludwigias, was leggy and ugly.
So now i have the Beamswork fixture, the Finnex fixture, and one Gro Beam 600 on the right side since 5 days, will see how it goes.
Michel.
TMC provides customer support via their retailers, which is typical of most manufactures and not just in the aquarium supply business.
So this depends upon the retailer.
Since I am not in Canada, rather the Los Angeles area, I cannot speak for J&L, however I have spoken with others who have stated their customer service is very poor [and worse].
My advice is to purchase from a USA seller, as there are two online and many stores or service persons such as myself selling these LED lights. The shipping costs are likely not that much more and more importantly you will get much better & knowledgeable customer support
Thanks for you feedback. I did registered my new Grobeam on the TMC’s web site, i want to have the full 5 years warranty, this is why i did buy the Grobeam, and i will probably buy others, if i have no issues with it or with the support. The site did confirm it was registered. However it should also send an email confirmation, almost all companies i know do it.
The only way to register on their site (TMC’s), is through Facebook, which is lame because i will not use a Facebook account for this. All today’s companies provide full registration directly, not through that (intrusive) Facebook.
Their products are most probably of high quality but improvement should be done about their web site’s and support, especially if they want to grow business in Canada and U.S.
This is just my personal opinion, for what it is worth.
Actually this is not true.
They have a good online registration site which you should have been directly to via a link or similar from the retailer, you do not need to go through Facebook.
Which btw, I would agree that I too do not like FB or social media in general.
The problem is you chose to go through what some have called is a parasite retailer and is certainly not a full service retailer and are now paying the price for this.
I have no problem with registration of my customers Aquaray lights and I do not even have a FB account. You cannot blame TMC for lack of product knowledge or customer service when this is mostly the retailers responsibility anymore than you can blame [name your electronic product] on the manufacturer when it was the retailer such as Best Buy that provided poor customer service, which once happened to me. Ditto buying a car. If your local dealer fails to help you, is this Ford, Chevy, Toyota, etc. fault?
One online retailer that I know of, AAP also keeps records of all sales to help for problems.
For my service customers, I write down all serial numbers so that the few problems I have had made it easy for me to give a full replacement, not make my customer wait for a repair.
My suggestion in the future is to use a full service retailer, even if it means purchasing in the USA next time
I mean TMC Aquaray’s.
I do not speak about the retailer. I think J&L Aquatics are serious. Buying in U.S. is not an option, shipping cost and customs issues.
This is not bashing or negative feedback. I care about this company if i would not i would stay silent. Allow me to rephrase.
Go there :
http://catalogue.tropicalmarinecentre.co.uk/warranty.aspx
And try to register. Maybe there is something i miss, the only way i see is through Facebook. This is TMC Aquaray’s website.
Yes, I know you mean the TMC Aquarays.
I also understand you are not bashing or trying to be negative, but I just want to be upfront based on my use and those I know in the business who use, sell, and educate others about these lights. 🙂
We will have to agree to disagree as per J&L aquatics from what I have heard and read on their website. As well friends of mine have told me the shipping costs and customs cost are not that much higher if done correctly. In fact I had one newer customer I took on here in the USA who bought from J&L and the additional shipping cost was not that much coming here, but she was unable to get customer service on a question she had for a potential warranty issue that I later resolved for her.
The link is correct and you do not need to go through the Facebook link on the upper right
I mean register an account not the product.
Yes I understand 🙂
To what company you refer who is selling Aquarays in U.S.?
Thanks, Michel.
AAP, who is the leader in Aquaray products in product knowledge, length of time selling [since 2008], and depth of products sold. They are who got me first using these with my service customers.
My link policy for this web site is to not provide direct links to retailers, no matter how much I might like them.