MH Bulbs from Ebay?

[jpeggerling]

Has anyone ever ordered a MH bulb from ebay? If so how are they? I was thinking about ordering one for a back up. Also it says that it for a horizontal burn postion, I did'nt think that made a difference.


http://cgi.ebay.com/175-W-Watt-20000...QQcmdZViewItem

[Slakker]

Any MH bulb for $20 shipped is probably sketchy, at best...but I've not tried them out. For $20 shipped, I guess you can afford to experiment, too.

My 175w bulb is getting rather old...so if you try it out, let us know what you think of it.

[jpeggerling]

Thats what I was thinking!!! for 20 buck its worth a shot. But I still want to know about the burn position.

[matttaylor]

I posted in your other thread already, but i'll post here as well. The one in the link you posted is the exact same bulb you'd get if you paid 4x more for a Ushio. I order 2 of the 250 watt 20k's. Out of curiosity i started digging around on the internet and it turns out that the number on the generic box and bulb match up to ushio bulbs. They are also well built and so far they look really good. I've only had them for 2 days, and once they burn in, i'm expecting great things.

As far as burn position goes, the innards of the bulbs are arranged differently on a vertical burning bulb. If you buy a horizontal burning bulb and try to run it in a vertical position the color output will be different. Take a horizontal bulb and turn it a 1/4 turn and look at how the output color changes. Same thing would happen in a vertical fixture.

[Ebisan]

The pic in the auction doesn't look like my Ushio that I recently bought. I may buy one of these and compare it to the Ushio bulb to see if they are indeed the same.

[SugarFox03]

I bought a no name ebay bulb and HATED it. Everything started to not look so great, I lost my SPS and my clams were starved for light. I changed back to a name brand bulb and won't ever look back. Now, I agree that they are decent back up bulbs, but definately not something I'd use full time.

[Zigzag Man]

Originally posted by matttaylor
I posted in your other thread already, but i'll post here as well. The one in the link you posted is the exact same bulb you'd get if you paid 4x more for a Ushio. I order 2 of the 250 watt 20k's. Out of curiosity i started digging around on the internet and it turns out that the number on the generic box and bulb match up to ushio bulbs. They are also well built and so far they look really good. I've only had them for 2 days, and once they burn in, i'm expecting great things.

Keep in mind that the Chinese are masters of deception when it comes to knock-off products, so just because the "numbers match" doesn't mean a hill of beans.

You pay 4x more for a Ushio because you are buying a quality bulb that will last a long time. I strictly ran Ushio (both 10K's and 20K's) for years up until I went HQI, and then I went over to an XDE bulb (XM), which is a proven bulb as well.

Bulbs are not where you want to skimp on a tank. This is your coral's food. Cut corner's elsewhere if you must, but don't settle for second-best (or bottom of the barrel) when it comes to lighting.

That's my $0.02 anyway.

[jhebi]

I bought 3 bulbs 250, 15k and run on my work tank....Its a 100gl, and so far so good, but I dont know about ushios or reeflux because never had the opportunity to buy them since they are over 60 bucks.....But maybe they are bad or good, but so far I like it....Let's see on the longer run, it has been running for 3 months now......Here is a pic of my tank at work...

[olemos]

Originally posted by Zigzag Man
Keep in mind that the Chinese are masters of deception when it comes to knock-off products, so just because the "numbers match" doesn't mean a hill of beans.

You pay 4x more for a Ushio because you are buying a quality bulb that will last a long time. I strictly ran Ushio (both 10K's and 20K's) for years up until I went HQI, and then I went over to an XDE bulb (XM), which is a proven bulb as well.

Bulbs are not where you want to skimp on a tank. This is your coral's food. Cut corner's elsewhere if you must, but don't settle for second-best (or bottom of the barrel) when it comes to lighting.

That's my $0.02 anyway.

That could be right but not necessary true, don't forget that Ushio pays ten times more to a worker in Germany, this manufacturing cost adds to the price of the bulb.
In todays Word market, expensive doesn't always translate to better quality.
Just like mentioned before, for the price of the bulb it can't hurt to give it a try.

[121a]

http://cgi.ebay.com/175W-14000K-META...QQcmdZViewItem
I buy from this guy, he lives in Chicago like me. I bought the 250w 14000k bulbs and they work well. I also have two 70w 14000K bulbs and they kinda have a nice cool blue to them. I like them alot.

[MarkGP]

I bought a couple of 175 watt 10K bulbs off of ebay last year. All my corals had excellent growth in the six months that I used them. I just didn't like the yellow hue they put out even with actinic supplement. I switched back to XM bulbs and the color is much whiter.

[olemos]

Well I ordered a 400watt 10k bulb, tried it on today and it does not fire up the package was well packed in a plastic container shipped from China (when you bid it says the item is in the USA), but at a closer look the bulb has several smudges and a few spectacles of what appears to be salt spray, it looks as if the bulb was used

There you go, I was the one trying to defend them and now I have to eat my words

[ika]

ya get what you pay for huh

[olemos]

Well I emailed the seller last night and he offered to send another one, so I have to wait and see.

[Slakker]

Keep us updated

[jhebi]

Ok.....Just did the test, and bought 2 reeflux 12k 250w yesterday and put it in my tank, let me say that indeed there is a difference. The rreflux gives me more color and the tank looks much nicer. I thought the ebay bulbs were a good buy, but now that I see the Reeflux over my tank, I love them.....I guess you get for what you pay

[whiner2]

bought two bulbs from this guy as i thought that it was a great deal. bulbs arrived in great shape - great packaging. put them in my tank and they looked ok. a week later they stopped firing. went to a friends house and tested them out. nothing. went to a lfs anf had them tested. nada. wrote the guy asking for a refund or new bulbs. said he had "a default rate of 7 bulbs per month and felt that was a reasonable ratio". never heard from him again. suffice to say...sticking with brand name bulbs from now on. they look better and have a better warranty/customer service.

[olemos]

Got the replacement bulb today, opened the package and the stupid thing is busted, not the outside glass but the glass piece on the inside don't understand they come in a cardboard sleeve wrapped with bauble wrap and then in a plastic container how can it brake on the inside?
Guess this is the end for me on these bulbs.

[olemos]

Another observation is the replacement bulb ( the one on top)is mush shorter then the the first one I got.

[shookbrad]

I tried a 20k and 10k. They fired ok but I was not impressed with the color. I run XM 10k now. I keep one around for a back up but that is about the extent. The best test would be for somebody like me to use there lux meter to get some readings and compare. If someone has a spectrum meter that would let us know if the color they are selling is really that color.

[Krazy]

I've used them for the past year, they work great !

I have clams under them as well, they do good !

I'd buy from him again

[smcdonn]

olemos,

kind of funny your observation about the bulb. I bought a 2, 250w 14k from him and one was broke when I got it, the replacement was shorter with much different color than the other original he sent.

[chkit]

just ordered a 70W DE mh for $14 shipped. for that price it's worth giving it a try. thanks krazy k for the link in the other thread.