Best prices mh bulbs?

[smorrow5773]

Any suggestions where to order bulbs, anyone tried the cheaper ones from ebay?

 

[brad23]

Do you like a certain brand?

 

[smorrow5773]

I bought a used fixture, it came with hamilton 14k, past it's prime. I need to replace asap, I will be keeping clams and sps at bottom of 24" tank. I have been researching highest lumen output for 250W 14k bulbs, and they vary by 10,00 lumens between brands. One of the ones on ebay claims 85cri with 17000 lumens. That still seems low to me, but can't find the stats for name brand bulbs. So I don't prefer anything yet. Any suggestions anyone.

 

[Volcano1]

http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/

Phoenix 14k de. Have them in my 24" deep tank and work great. Check link for se bulbs.

 

[brad23]

A good cheaper bulb to go with would be EVC 10k or 14k or maybe a XM 10k.

 

[lcashman]

XM 10K bulb (SE) has one of the highest PAR ratings with a magnetic ballast.
I was using these bulbs, and noticed that not all SPS like such a high PAR rating.
I decided to try the ReefLux 10K in place of the XMs. The ReefLux has more "blue" than the XMs and a lower PAR rating, so I will see if this was a mistake.

And as a side note, I am running these on a 30" tall tank with SPS and clams on the sandbed.

 

[smorrow5773]

I have been seriously considering the reeflux 10 or 12k, but I am still up in the air. I will probably go with the 12k at the moment and check it out.

 

[smorrow5773]

I ordered Reeflux 12k for $60 shipped, cheapest I found. I was afraid the 10k would end up not blue enough, I couldn't find any stats on the 12k, but most reviews seem to really like it.

 

[lcashman]

That's also the cheapest price that I found on the Reeflux bulbs. I have 12K 175 Reeflux and I'm not used to how blue the bulb is.
Of course, that was switching from a Ushio 10k to a Reeflux 12k.

Now if you look at the PAR rating, the 12k will be lower than the 10k.

 

[smorrow5773]

I knew I would be taking a hit on the par rating with the 12k, but my wife loves a really blue tank, where as I prefer 10k look myself, so I am hoping that this will be a good compromise, we'll see in a week or so I guess.

 

[marino420td]

I ordered from www.thereefstop.com. It is run by a hobbyist in the St. Louis area. Good prices and great service. I would recommend them.

 

[lcashman]

That's where I bought my bulbs. Good communications and great prices.

 

[lcashman]

That's where I bought my bulbs. Good communications and great prices.