ebay halide bulbs?

Any1 ever ha e any luck with them? I bought a used fixture with 3 year old bulbs.I got it cheap but I think I should change the bulbs. The halides are just a badaid to get me by for alittle while till I can get my led fixture together.I really like the radium 20ks but$ 210 seems a bit steep for something ill only be using for afew months.

 

3 year old bulbs? I wouldnt even let them in the house. If your talking short term & working on LED's I guess its a toss up really. I would personally probably go with new ebay bulbs vs bulbs that old.

 

He can run 10 year old bulbs, as long as it's fish only. Haha. =)

 

good point, very true.

 

its a reef tank mostly lps and some softies. i got them for a steal at $50 for the set lol. im working on the leds little by little but its a big undertaking also setting up a 210 tank at the same time

 

Your in quite a pickle here... If you keep the 3 year old bulbs their spectrum has already really shifted. they will have a lot of red and yellow to them so you might get algae.
On the other hand, you will get more algae and have an uglier tank if you get the eBay bulbs... So yes, I say stick with the 3 year old bulbs and hope they aren't too bad.

Maybe try to find a used bulb in a for sale section of one of the forums out there. You would be surprised how many people just don't like the color temperature of a new bulb and then sell the bulb after a few firings for super cheap to just get a different bulb.

 

do you think the color spectrum will be that bad on the new ebay bulbs?

 

Phoenix bulbs from Marine Depot are not badly priced, but how many do you need? Three year old bulbs are for reef is pretty much unheard of. Especially if they are cheap bulbs in the fixture already, it's even worse. Is you fixture double-end or mogul base?

 

They are mogul base id need 3 250w :/