so i have 2 250 watt artemis bulbs running right now off of a cool touch lighting ballast. Super quiet and cold to the touch IMO! however, my 14k bulbs are beginning to turn white which tells me its time to replace em....now....me being a cheap ass, i do not wanna spend a ton on bulbs, however i do not wanna sacrifice par values and growth on the corals either. basically put, i found an auction for 2 250 watt 14k bulbs mogul base for 40 bucks shipped. they are a no name bulb i am sure, and they do not provide any par ratings or specs on the bulbs. i keep reading about how great phoenix, xm and radium SE bulbs are, but everywhere i look, they are about 70 bucks a bulb!!! thats a lil coo coo for me....anyone have any idea where i can get good bulbs cheap? if not im just gonna chance it and order myself the ones on ebay...can't beat 40 bucks
time to replace bulbs
- Thread starter Krazykarl
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Blob-79
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damn..I wish DE bulbs were that cheep lol. Ya if your going to try them, i would probally go with the 20000k
P
phi delt reefer
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i cant find the link but someone did some PAR tests. The results were not impressive. They are about as third as powerful as the name brand bulbs and they are junk after 3 months. Also the color is a bit off. I remember the user ordering two 14k bulbs of the same brand from the same seller and they were packaged and labelled identically but one was clearly closer to 10k. I'll see if i can find the article but I am a member of 6 forums and surf a bunch more as a guest so i doubt it. I think the forum title was "ebay halide bulb" or something.
BUT
if you get a good deal on a lot of them - like a couple years supply; and lower your lights and use good reflectors you could make them work - just replace the bulbs every 3 months. If you want a 14K look grab the 20K bulbs cause the color isnt as blue as they say. In the end it might just cost the same as a quality bulb that you replace every year.
BUT
if you get a good deal on a lot of them - like a couple years supply; and lower your lights and use good reflectors you could make them work - just replace the bulbs every 3 months. If you want a 14K look grab the 20K bulbs cause the color isnt as blue as they say. In the end it might just cost the same as a quality bulb that you replace every year.
Blob-79
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- Jan 13, 2017
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- Tillsonburg
Should have specified, I was refurring to the plusrite bulb. I would stay away from no name halides. as far as the plusrite bulb, best bet is to research the name and see what you get. Its very true when they they say "you get what you pay for"
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