Ebay MH Bulbs

[ravedood]

So has anyone ever tried the ebay MH bulbs? I am looking at some from the Light Spectrum Enterprises, Inc (LSE) ebay store. What experiences have people who have bought the ebay no brand bulbs?

 

[Garage1217]

I have used the LSE so called 22K 250w de bulbs. Build quality was low, especially the metal ends & visually it was a 10-12K at best. Not even close to a 22K. Also the bulbs had zero markings on them. I sent them back and had them replaced as I did not feel they were 22K or even 14K's & the replacements were the same. I sold them off as 10-12K bulbs. They would have looked really good if I was looking for a 10-12K bulb. Very very bright as well!

I have another set of cheapies coming from a placed called Greatdel that has excellent feedback. I bought some 20k's off him Friday. Should be delivered this week. I do know the manufacturer actually prints 20K on the glass so we will see what I end up with. Also to note, they were ridiculously cheap. Like $30 shipped for a pair. Even if I only use them for emergencies, then they are worth that!

 

[cccapt]

I just did a little comparison of the 175w MH bulbs I've used. All these bulbs have aprox 12 months of use on them. I used an Apogee Quantum meter for the results.
The Ebay bulbs were 14K from Greatdel.

 

[ravedood]

So what do you guys think with these results? I am going to be changing from 2 VHOs to a couple of 150 watt MH on my 55g to keep some SPS along with my LPS. Do you think the ebay bulbs would be good enough assuming I keep my LPS near the bottom and my SPS near the top?

 

[sabodish]

bump.
i am looking at these as well as the economy has really taken a toll on my reefing budget. any other experiences? or is this one of them "if it seems to good to be true" deals..

 

[Amoore311]

There's some more info at this link:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1666693&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

 

[metalmulisha]

I bought from greatdel. Alot of bulbs too. The 20k isn't blue at all looks more like a 14k to me. If you like the 10k's those look fine. I was looking for something close to radiums but obviously I was hoping too much when buying these. I did have one pair show diffrent coloration next to one another too. Since they were cheap I bought a pair of 10k,14k, 20k all SE 250. Now ther just sitting there after one ignite to see the coloration and not be happy.