Anyone try the marine color mh bulbs?

[Cabinetman]

Just curious if anyone has tried the Amazon and eBay marine color mh bulbs. The price is actually affordable compared to the high dollar bulbs, especially when you have 5 of them to change out. Let’s hear your experiences, not opinions

 

[KrisReef]

I have seen those bulbs you are looking at and I have tried a few of the other inexpensive bulbs and they all made my wife angry for wasting money. I have not purchased the bulbs you are asking about but I have noticed that no one will admit they bought them, or has boughten them and been happy enough with the purchase to post on here that they would recommend them.

I could be wrong, let us know if you do!

 

[DesertReefT4r]

I used to use Odysea brand MH bulds off Ebay. They worked well and had simliar PAR to a Phoenix 14K 250w.

 

[oreo54]

Product Review: Spectral Analysis of Aquarmckzo and Catalina Metal Halide Lamps

Sanjay presents spectral data on a low cost bulb found on EBay and data on the Catalina lamps.

reefs.com

Historic
Needs updating..

 

[Cabinetman]

I have seen those bulbs you are looking at and I have tried a few of the other inexpensive bulbs and they all made my wife angry for wasting money. I have not purchased the bulbs you are asking about but I have noticed that no one will admit they bought them, or has boughten them and been happy enough with the purchase to post on here that they would recommend them.

I could be wrong, let us know if you do!

I’m just in the process of switching my 10’ reef over to halides. I’ve got one of the 20k ones running on a lumatek ballast. It’s very blue. And bright. I’m tempted to try some 14k

 

[Reefing102]

I personally have no experience with them but was looking at them for possible future replacement. I then got to thinking, the average recommended replacement is between 8-12 months and that about $50 per bulb isn’t as expensive for a year of light ($6.25-$4.16/month) nor the potential for any issues that may be brought upon the switch like algae blooms (due to spectrum difference) or visual color temp. I may still try them on a frag tank (once I get that far) but just thoughts

 

[Cabinetman]

I just ordered 2 14k ones. $51 Canadian for 2. I’ll try them on one end of my display unless bad experiences start being chimed in

 

[outhouse]

Ive used pulseright 14 and 20k now they are hard to find. They were cheap chiner bulbs, and every bit as good as my ushios and XM and any other name brand ive used for 2 decades.

 

[Cabinetman]

Ive used pulseright 14 and 20k now they are hard to find. They were cheap chiner bulbs, and every bit as good as my ushios and XM and any other name brand ive used for 2 decades.

Well that’s promising. What all did you grow under them?

 

[outhouse]

Well that’s promising. What all did you grow under them?

a few hundred rbta and a few thousand branching hammers. kept a lobo alive for 30 years 25 under my ownership. and a scolli for 20 years and maybe a few hundred frogspawn All from 1 rbta 5 heads of branching hammer and 3 heads of frogspawn

 

[Cabinetman]

a few hundred rbta and a few thousand branching hammers. kept a lobo alive for 30 years 25 under my ownership. and a scolli for 20 years and maybe a few hundred frogspawn All from 1 rbta 5 heads of branching hammer and 3 heads of frogspawn

I’ve been into the hobby for 10-12 years now. My first real reef was a 300 gallon plywood tank I made which had 4 250 halides over it with a few diy led strips. Euphillia grew like it was on fire as did anything else I added. It was like I couldn’t do anything wrong. Fast forward a few years after getting rid of it I set up a 350 gallon acrylic tank and started out with those halides but quickly switched to t5. That tank did ok but never compared to the halide tank. I’m experiencing the same kinda deal with my 560 gallon. Doing better than the 350 did with the crappy t5 fixtures as the 560 has ati but still not the growth the halides gave me.

a few hundred rbta and a few thousand branching hammers. kept a lobo alive for 30 years 25 under my ownership. and a scolli for 20 years and maybe a few hundred frogspawn All from 1 rbta 5 heads of branching hammer and 3 heads of frogspawn

that’s great to hear. I know my euphillia has sure perked up under the 20k. I can’t wait to try the 14k. I find the 20 to blue

 

[outhouse]

Nice, thing is they make those DE, you will be in luck. I cant find cheap SE 175s anymore. only a handful left. I have been on LEDs for 3 to 5 years, lost all growth and started cooking my corals, lost a lot. Good news is I turned them down to literally 1% blue and white and everything is growing again.

 

[Cabinetman]

Just a quick update. I’ve had a 20k marine colour and a new radium 20k running side by side and I’ll tell you. They look identical colour wise. The marine color one actually looks just a tad brighter. I am seeing growth on my sps but it’s not been long enough to really make any hard reviews. But so far I’m very impressed. The marine color is on the right. There’s another unknown brand on the left side of the radium that looks to be a 10k. You can see in the tank pic on the left that’s it’s noticeably brighter.

 

[djf91]

Just a quick update. I’ve had a 20k marine colour and a new radium 20k running side by side and I’ll tell you. They look identical colour wise. The marine color one actually looks just a tad brighter. I am seeing growth on my sps but it’s not been long enough to really make any hard reviews. But so far I’m very impressed. The marine color is on the right. There’s another unknown brand on the left side of the radium that looks to be a 10k. You can see in the tank pic on the left that’s it’s noticeably brighter.

What wattage radium and what ballasts?

 

[Cabinetman]

It’s a 250w. Running on lumatek ballast at 250w setting. The marine color is running on a vertex ballast to be fair

 

[ThePurple12]

I'm looking into getting a couple of these, did they end up working out? Still running well?

 

[geekengineer]

I bought a couple of 150W 10Ks DEs I was going to try but haven't come in yet. I was debating on switching out an old PFO fixture to convert it to LEDs. I was thinking of trying these out first before spending lots on bulbs and ending up changing to LEDs anyhow.

 

[Cabinetman]

I'm looking into getting a couple of these, did they end up working out? Still running well?

I’m still using them. Couldn’t be happier. Here’s a video of my 560 before I sold all the coral and rock. I added all new rock and the tank is restocked now with all new frags that are growing like gangbuster under the same bulbs that are likeky over a year old now

 

[A. grandis]

Please take for what's worth.
Quality always come with a price tag.
That said, and generally speaking, quality materials and craftsmanship is related with such quality and price, BUT...
The first associated words that "inexpensive" or "Chinese" products bring to our minds are: "cheap", "inefficient", or even "dangerous".
In reality, ANY product could present faults and defects, even the German.
I like the quality of German, Japanese, Italian and American made things!
I do not like the cheap Chinese products, and that is basically something that we have in mind as a statement. In reality Chinese products are only in a lower quality level, but are still a great option, as long as they are made within the safety.

I think we are somehow too attached to the name brand bulbs, while some of them are actually made in China and other countries with that name on them.

Post 8 says it all. I am tempted to try some of those bulbs.
This is a great thread.

 

[A. grandis]

I’m still using them. Couldn’t be happier. Here’s a video of my 560 before I sold all the coral and rock. I added all new rock and the tank is restocked now with all new frags that are growing like gangbuster under the same bulbs that are likeky over a year old now

What corals do you have now? Nice!