HQI light question? Time to update again.

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Well I will give it a try and see how they look. Just ordered them today and I’m guessing about a week to get here. I will post some pictures before and after. The currant lights on the fixture are overdue for replacing but never seem to have much color or blue to them, almost just as white as it gets.
 
Hey I have used them before. I had one that did not fire, (which for the price of three of them not too bad), but they lost their color quickly and I really did not like them at all. I thought I was saving money but just ended up having to buy new bulbs after 3 months.
 
Tat2 21
Did you get them from this vender?
If one didn’t fire maybe it was just a bad bulb.
I will take some pictures over the next few months to see how they do and come up with some kind of reference to tell if and how much they change.

Thatguy559
I guess I’ve had pretty good luck on eBay, I have only bin disappointed with one thing I purchased and that was the last thin I got. This eshopps 150 skimmer sucks a**! Never will I buy another or recommend one at all. It is just absolute junk. I would feel bad selling it to some one for half what I paid for it a week ago. Now Im going to make some modifications to it because im just like that and try to get it to work like I want it too since I already have the sump built to accommodate its dimensions. Hopefully I can get it where I want it and then Ill be more happy with it.

Usually when I buy something off eBay I know exactly what I want and that’s what Im looking for. The lights however I have no preference and just decided to try it since no one had a comment on it in the last few weeks. So I will see how it goes. Heck with all the benefits of shopping on eBay and paying with paypal you really can’t complain. The venders money back guaranteed if not satisfied would include the return shipping according to the paypal protections so your not out anything if it doesn’t work out the way it is described too.
 
I will let you know that the output and coloration of the bulbs are going to be way below what you are looking for. Again it is cheaper to just buy the pheonix bulbs that last and color stays right where it needs to be. Just my opinion. I also tried going the cheaper route and thought I beat the system. However the system can not be beaten.
 
Well I can’t un order them now anyway so I will just have to see how it works our for these bulbs.

The bulbs that you got, did you purchase them from this vender?
 
I did order them through the same supplier. I also tried their 4x96w PC's that they had at the time. Let me know how it works out for you. Keep an eye on the colors and how much your corals reach for the light.
 
I got the new lights installed yesterday and they look just like nuclear blueberries. The colors of the fish look nice. I can now see the blues and greens real nice. The yellow fish look real bright but the color doesn’t look glowing bright like the blue fish and green fish. Of coarse the purple all looks great and I have nothing red so cant say anything about that but looks good out of the box.
 
I am glad to hear that they are working out for you. When you go with the 20k's the color really seem to pop.
 
I have those bulbs but in 20K. I really like them. Have had them for about 2 months and so far so good. I need to upgrade my ballast though. I have those Odessea ones. going to get 2 lumteks.
 
I think the ones I have are Odyssea ballast too. That up grade will have to wait a bit as long as the ones I have are working. I still have a few more fish to order up to top off the tank first.
 
Do the replacement ballast all come with the same connectors on them? No funny wiring to deal with to replace the ones I have now?
 
I bought a 400W DE 20000k version of this bulb and have been very pleased. It is a bit hard to find good 400W DE bulb (too few choices) and I like this bulb a lot for about $20 a piece. Even if it might end up lasting 3-4 months, I would still get it (however still going strong after 3 months, just like the first week picture below.)

Here is a new tank shot I took when I first installed it:

P1010162.JPG


Do you have a picture with 250W DE version? I wonder if it has the same punch as the 250W Helios 20000K that I liked a lot and cannot find anymore...
 
I was just thinking of updating this post. I already sent the bulbs back for a refund. For me the experience was the bulbs looked great for a few days but after a week I could see the bulbs them selves were turning black. The strange thing I noticed at first was that I could not get any of the lights to fire with out turning on the PC lights in the fixture first and let them heat the HQI’s up before they would even fire. I purchased a new set from another supplier that actually puts a brand name on the bulb and they seem to be working much better. I bought two 20k and one 14k for the center thinking I mite like that brighter look in the middle but the 20s just make the 14 look yellow. I am going to get another 20k from the same vender and go with that. This is the new light I have now.
http://cgi.ebay.com/250-W-20000K-HQ...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2307ad6bec
 
Curious, what kind of ballast did you use with them?

ac7av said:
I was just thinking of updating this post. I already sent the bulbs back for a refund. For me the experience was the bulbs looked great for a few days but after a week I could see the bulbs them selves were turning black. The strange thing I noticed at first was that I could not get any of the lights to fire with out turning on the PC lights in the fixture first and let them heat the HQI’s up before they would even fire. I purchased a new set from another supplier that actually puts a brand name on the bulb and they seem to be working much better. I bought two 20k and one 14k for the center thinking I mite like that brighter look in the middle but the 20s just make the 14 look yellow. I am going to get another 20k from the same vender and go with that. This is the new light I have now.
http://cgi.ebay.com/250-W-20000K-HQ...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2307ad6bec
Click to expand...
 
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