Best halides to buy?

[ABQ Custom]

I have 2 250w 20k screw-in single end halides on my 125. One went out yesterday. When I bought the tank the halides came with it so no telling how old they are, so I'll replace both.

Anyone have an opinion on the best halides, best price, and where to buy?

 

[israelnajar]

Marine depot has some for 65 each. They also have free shipping for orders over 175.

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=MB6813

 

[gricks]

I really like my geisemann bulbs.

 

[skyfireblaze]

I bought bulbs from Premium Aquatics when I ordered my light fixture. I thought they did a good job with the packaging/shipping on both the MH and T5 bulbs.

I've also seen MANY good reviews for ReefGeek. My boss here at work knows one of the owners (family's from ABQ, or at least he used to live here ...). I've traded email with them a couple of times. They seem to be a class-act. I think their prices are pretty good too.

I don't have any experience with SE MH bulbs, so I can't offer any suggestions really. All I know is that my head really starts to hurt when I start thinking about reef lighting ... :fun5:

Have you checked out Sanjay Joshi's Reef Lighting Website? You should be able to get spectral plots, power consumption, and par values for a lot of bulb and ballast combinations.

 

[tigersax7]

you might also look at
http://www.hellolights.com
I had realy good luck with them and they have very good prices.

Jason

 

[ABQ Custom]

I ended up doing a search on ebay and found 9 dollar bulbs!
I came back to RC and searched "ebay bulbs". I found an awsome thread of people
trying out different bulbs they bought from ebay and reporting the results.
I found one called 'reefoptic' that everyone who bought them love them, over and over good reports for these bulbs. They sell for 30.00 each

I bought 2 - 250w 20k(he was out of 14k) for 69.00 including shipping and insurance!

I got them yesterday and installed them when I got home.
They are AWESOME! The color is perfect. not too blue.
I will keep you guys informed on long term performance, but so far, so good!
If anyone wants the info on the seller, PM me.

 

[israelnajar]

Whoa whoa whoa.....your telling me that you were able to do a search on RC? I am amazed! Good find though.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9368089#post9368089 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ABQ Custom
I ended up doing a search on ebay and found 9 dollar bulbs!
I came back to RC and searched "ebay bulbs". I found an awsome thread of people
trying out different bulbs they bought from ebay and reporting the results.
I found one called 'reefoptic' that everyone who bought them love them, over and over good reports for these bulbs. They sell for 30.00 each

I bought 2 - 250w 20k(he was out of 14k) for 69.00 including shipping and insurance!

I got them yesterday and installed them when I got home.
They are AWESOME! The color is perfect. not too blue.
I will keep you guys informed on long term performance, but so far, so good!
If anyone wants the info on the seller, PM me.

 

[ABQ Custom]

yeah, I couldn't believe it either...
and I thought you would be impressed with the bulbs, not the search!

 

[israelnajar]

I am actually very impressed with the bulbs. I said the thing about the search in jest.

 

[asfullax]

I am really starting to wonder what the actual manufacturing cost is on high kelvin bulbs. Its the same with the 70w bulbs for $18 vs name brand for $89. I know it ultimatly comes down to the PAR value, but nothing can be worse then the XM 15k's or some of the other "Name Brands" I can see paying a high price for a super high par bulb like 10k's, but anything above that I am really starting to wonder.