$20 250w 20K on ebay

My dual 250w ballast should be here by the end of the week. I have my reflectors and and just have to buy the bulbs. I was set to buy the $100 bulbs but a reefer friend of mine told me to look at the ebay ones. He says a lot of people are happy with them. As usual low prices scare me and I wanted to get a consensus.

What do you all think of these $20 bulbs? The ad says same quality and performance as coralvue/hamilton/xm/reeflux/ushio, he also offers a money back guarantee. Good feedback.

250W 250 watt 20000K Metal Halide Aquarium Bulb 20K - eBay (item 390090406764 end time Oct-04-09 14:50:51 PDT)

I just want to hear from someone that has actual experience with them. This will be my first time with MH lighting so I really don't know what to expect.

 

Can't help you, but I'm very interested in others thoughts on this!

 

horrible bulbs, acouple people bought them on RC and they didnt even look 20k and they where also tested with a par meter and where far below that of a normal bulb. IMO you get what you pay for

 

Thanks OP, I was afraid of that.

What would be good bulbs for a beginner. I don't have too many corals in there yet but once I get the lights I bet things will change.

Is 20K the best? I was looking more 14K or 15K for a nice middle of the road but I love the actinic look so much I was beginning to think about going with the 20K's

 

i love my 12k foir growth and 14k hamilton plus for coral, the hamilton are GREAT bulbs if you dont have strong atinics i love the blue hue that the 14k+ bulbs give they look awsome, ive used them before! do you have SE or DE?

 

I love my 14K Pheonix bulbs..they give a real nice soft blue color and my corals seem to grow well with it

 

+1 to above the pheonix bulbs are also great bulbs as well

 

in my opinion 14k is the best love that "cool white" color it gives off but its personal preference every bulb is a bit different but 20k will get you the blue look and a lot of people say they make your colors pop (no experience here), you will get faster growth from a 10k bulb but they are more of a yellowish tint (without atinics)

edit: oh yeah forgot to say for 20k a lot of people love radium bulbs

 

I tried some of these in the 175 watt version. They looked more yellow than the hamilton 6500K bulbs. Do not buy them.

 

Like previously posted the phoenix 14k's are a nice bulb especially for the price. Cant go wrong. Not too far from the 20k look.... you were lookin at 20k. So phoenix 14k's would be good. I have phoenix's lighting up my tank.