Ebay MH bulbs

I'm on my 2nd set of 250Watt SE PlusRite 14K bulbs. I switched the first set out after about 12 months. My corals and clams are growing great under these bulbs. I bought from both Trust Deals and 1000bulbs and had no issues with either place.
 
Updated FTS

Updated FTS

July 2010
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Radiums on the Left and Right Bluewave 7 dual ballast. Plusrite 20K in the center on Coralvue 400w dimmable ballast.

Here is an Updated FTS 2/24/11
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I am currently running Odyssea 20k bulbs in my 250watt de. Was thinking of going with the 14k from plusrite. Didn't somebody have par readings before? I remember looking at them but they made no sense. Anybody else have some par readings for the 20k vs the 14k plusrite at the 250watt range?

I just bought the Odyssea 20k bulbs. What kind of growth are you getting from them? Did you do a par reading on them?
 
I got 350 par readings off mine at 10" below surface in my 180.

Please excuse my brevity. This was sent from my Android via Tapatalk
 
OK here it tis Oddysea 250w MH PAR reading run on Icecap ballast in a Reef Optics3 pendant. Not bad but I was hoping for a little better. I may go back to Phoenix 14 I will see if I have my old one to test. Readings taken with all pumps and power heads on.
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The top reading is right under the lights glass. You cant really ready it clearly but it is 2,850. It drops big time once the light goes threw the water.
 
I bought the plusrite bulbs to try them from a request of a friend. I love mine. I got the 20k and now have stopped using actinic bulbs. The only thing i use now is the plusrites. Got mine from 1000bulbs.com for $12 each. How can you beat that. My corals are doing great under them
 
They are a bit blue. Watch forbthem to burn into a 14k spectrum or 12k. Two of my three changed and 1000bulbs replaced them for me free.

Please excuse my brevity. This was sent from my Android via Tapatalk
 
I'm going to run them with Lumatek electronic switchable ballasts (250hqi). I am still building the hood/stand. It may be a week or two yet before I get it in place and fire up bulbs. I plan to take pics with the bulbs brand new, and more pics at a week, two weeks, and four weeks, etc. To try to gauge their appearance. I hope to borrow a PAR meter from my local club and get readings as well. It may be more practical to get PAR readings after the bulbs have some time to settle in. Maybe at 4 weeks.
 
Par ratings are extremely low and you'll be lucky to get 3 months out of them. I tried them in the past and had 2 short out after a few months. Don't waste your money. The 14k's are incredibly yellow and the 20k's have no intensity. I hooked up "actual" aquarium bulbs and the colors and intensity is like night and day, huge difference! :eek1:
 
I got the 20 K. Seller is good, but I don't like the bulbs. They are FAR less blue than my Phoenix and the ceramic is of very poor quality. They are difficult to get in and out of the fixture and the cermic chips away very easily, whereas the phoenix slide in and out with no problems
 
I have been using a Plusrite 20k 175w mogul for just over a month now. It was initially very blue but toned down as it broke in. I replaced an Ushio 10k. My RBTA and GBTA's have started bubbling up, when they did not under the Ushio. Don't get me wrong though, I rave about the Ushio too.

Par wise, I'm not sure of specifics as I don't have a meter. The Ushio had a super nice crisp pure white light. My guesstimate would be that the Ushio did have more PAR. But the Plusrite still has lots of intensity. My anemones are doing great. I have one SPS which has shown notable growth, and my various Palys, Rics and what not are opened up and happy (as such things can be).

I can't complain... for a $20 bulb. Time will tell how it fares longevity wise.

I just built a new 72" canopy for my tank upgrade. I installed 3x Plusrite 250w HQI 20K's on Lumatek switchable ballasts. Along with an Icecap660 ballast with two rows (4x36" T5 bulbs in total) for supplementation. For note. The T5's are ATI Blue+ and Purples.

So far I have only done a test run where I left the lights on for about 8 hours in the canopy. The tank is still not ready yet. My wife came into the room and had to shield her eyes it was so bright. Again, time will tell.. as they haven't been through their break-in period yet.

As far as the 20K 250's go.... off the bat, they were not as blue as the 175w 20k. Which was a bit surprising. They had a very nice white with blue tone, which seemed a tad bluer than what you might see with a Phoenix 14k. My hope is that once it breaks it, it will be closer to a 14k. Even then.. with the T5 supplementation on, the combined light was excellent in my opinion. Again... for $20 bulbs (each), I was quite happy with the results. Time will tell. Once I get the big tank up and have time to break the 250HQI's in, I'll post a followup opinion.

As for bulb build quality. They seem fine. But from bulb to bulb there were some minor cosmetic differences. I am unsure about inserting it into the fixture. The mogul just screws in.. no problem. The DE bulbs went into NEW reflectors. I had to screw in the DE mounts (they adjust) and fit in the bulbs . I didn't have any problems.

These are certainly budget bulbs, but they do seem to work quite well (so far). They also have a friendly price point. I personally think these halide bulbs offered by the name brands are WAY overpriced.

As I like to know my companies I did a bit of digging into the manufacturer. Plusrite Electric is also known as Jiangsu of China. Apparently they developed the first 150watt DE bulb, and have been in the business since the 1980's. They are an OEM manufacturer, so they build branded bulbs for other companies. I'd LOVE to find out WHO they manufacture for, but I haven't had luck finding that information. Their 'Plusrite' brand is very new. Sounds like they are trying to break into the currently far overpriced halide market. $60-$80 for a single bulb is crazy in my opinion, but up until this point choice has been limited.
 
Ive had mine since january. they burned in nicely and have a perfect 16k tone. somewhere between 20k and 14k. Corals all love them and get great growth. running them on Ice cap 250wt ballasts. I will surely order another trio of them in a few months.
 
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