Yes or No on cheap ebay bulbs?

[Ehgemus]

ok I know there is a big post about cheap ebay bulbs. but just wanted to know if there are any good ones out there.:D

[theatrus]

The MH bulbs all spectrum shift horribly at or before 6 months. Some people report success with them by frequently replacing, but why dump more mercury into the environment by using them?

[dpearly88]

I'm not sure, I've heard they don't work that well second hand. If you run 175 watt MHs get Iwasaki... they're not cheap but they're very bright. Some day I want to buy some cheap ones and compair.

[Dingo Dog]

I agree with Theatrus. Also, I'd think the time and effort you may end up spending having to deal with the second-hand or cheaper quality light issues, plus paying shipping and having to wait for delivery with eBay vs. trying to get a good deal locally wouldn't be that difficult of a decision, but that's just my opinion.

[smcdonn]

Ok here it goes again, boy if this thread gets anywhere as big as the last one its going to be scary. I purchased 2 10K 250w and 2 14K 250w ebay MH bulbs from a guy that goes by greatdel. The 14K's burned out very quickly and one of the 10K's came in broke. He quickly replaced the 10K at no charge but I recieved a shorter bulb than the original 10K. The longer 10K that I originally recieved looks amazing. Love the color. And it's sitting next to a 14K hamilton. Everyone loves the color of the hamiltons as I do too, but I must say the original 10K that I recieved has amazing color too. Nice crisp white. But the second 10K I recieved was crap. Very yellow. So moral of the story??? Guess there isn't one. Got one good bulb out of 4. You can do the math and see that I didn't come out much ahead.

[RichConley]

Some say they work great, some say theyre awful.


The truth is probably somewhere in betweeen.

A lot of the bulbs we're spending $60 ARE cheap korean knockoff bulbs (XM, etc).

[Ehgemus]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10390637#post10390637 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by theatrus
but why dump more mercury into the environment by using them? I don't understand what you mean about dumping more mercury.

[Ehgemus]

Ok I know you get what you pay for but why are these bulbs $9.00- $30.00 and a fancy reef bulb in a nice pretty box 60.00 or more. what makes that bulb worth that much more? are we getting screwed here when they could be made by the same company.
I am running a 250w reeflux bulb on my tank and I still have the box that the bulb came it, The box does not say who made the bulb it just says reeflux. now they could have made the bulb but how knows GE or phillips could have made.

[Ehgemus]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10390988#post10390988 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RichConley


A lot of the bulbs we're spending $60 ARE cheap korean knockoff bulbs (XM, etc). That's what I mean. I have heard that XM bulbs only last 6 months.