Ordering MH bulbs of ebay?

[soyadrink]

Has anyone ever tried to get metal halide bulbs from ebay? I'm always skeptic about buying things on ebay but this guy http://myworld.ebay.com/trust_deals/ sells the bulbs for pretty cheap($10 each) and has good feedback.

 

[BUlicny]

I would go for it. If its a bad deal, your only out 20 or so dollars. Good luck.

 

[soyadrink]

also just found this guy http://myworld.ebay.com/greatdel

 

[trido]

FWIW, a guy who frequents the forum site RDO was using E-bay bulbs and was quick to defend them as being a great bulb for the price. His corals were growing and he was happy. After enough badgering form fellow reefers he sent a couple of the bulbs to Sanjay for spectral analysis and PAR testing. The bulbs came back with VERY poor PAR results. The reefer has since switched to the more expensive brand name bulbs ranging from 50-75 dollars. As much as he (and all of us) wants to save money, he also want his tank inhabitants to thrive rather than just survive

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR......

 

[soyadrink]

Thanks trido, thats what I was expecting from ebay... as always. I'm sticking with my reeflux for a while anyway

 

[mmkeeper]

I have bought from these guys several times and have been very satisfied.http://cgi.ebay.com/175-W-10-000-K-...ryZ46314QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[surf_buddy]

I bought some Odyssea HQIs from these guys and my corals are happy, but I have no way of testing the PAR. Does anyone use these?

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=49

 

[twilliard]

Those 10$ lamps are CRAP! (still have a few to prove it )

Not even the right color

 

[soyadrink]

thanks for the input, just heard they're 20% off this weekend at barrier

 

[FraggleRock]

Has anyone ever tried to get metal halide bulbs from ebay? I'm always skeptic about buying things on ebay but this guy http://myworld.ebay.com/trust_deals/ sells the bulbs for pretty cheap($10 each) and has good feedback.

I purchased two 250 HQI 20k on eBAY for 24$ a piece. Man what a deal.....
that was until I installed them and they just kept flickering and shutting off. Sure,one of them would actually reach operating temp then it would shut off. Was it because I had a magnetic ballast and the bulbs were for a electronic ballast? The answer was no. They were for a magnetic ballast.
So I took them out and in doing so the porceline on the ends of the bulbs broke apart. So by now Im furrious,here I am running on my two 54w T5 on my 125gal. I called Aquamedic and talked to the tech guy and he told me that because I had an Aquamedic ballast I couldnt run any of the cheap bulbs from Tiwan! They cant handle the elect load my ballast puts out. Seemingly any quality brand under rates their electrical output,so my ballast is actually puting out more than 250watts per bulb and the cheap bulbs get way to much juice. He also told me if they had worked I would of noticed alot of die off Within a few weeks to a month cause the bulbs lose their output FAST. I think the name of them was Coral Life,I threw the boxes away. I orderd new ones from South Pacific Sunlight wich set me back around 170$... so cheaper isnt allways better on some things:doubt:

 

[mark peacock]

Mh

I ordered 2 400 watt mh bulbs from ebay from over there mate and had no issues what so ever and they were cheaper than over here.