Anyone use MH bulbs on eBay? Price too good to be true?

[cmor1701d]

It's time for me to order new MH bulbs for my annual New Years Day replacement. I have been under the impression that MH bulbs should be good for 12 months or more before the color spectrum starts shifting too much. I was all set to order a set of Ushio bulbs from HelloLights whenI decided to check on eBay. I found these 150W HQI 10K DE METAL HALIDE BULB LAMP MARINE REEF for $9.99 ea. plus $10.00 shipping. The seller told me the bulbs should last 6 - 8 months if I used them 10 hours a day.

Thoughts?

They are listed as:
150 watt HQI DE Metal Halide Aquarium Reef Bulb 10,000k (kelvin)
*Brand New in the Box*
*High Quality & Long Life*
*T7 RX7S Base*
*Horizontal Burn Position*
*(DE) Double-Ended Metal Halide bulb*
*Distinct Blue Tint Full spectrum light*
*Blue ocean depths effect*
*Replacement lamp for any 150 watt Double-Ended HQI Metal Halide M81 Ballast*
SAME COLOR QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE AS
Coralife & ReefLux & USHIO Brands
Best For Reef Aquarium Setups [Retail price $50-$70]

[roka64]

I'm kind of curious now, but does your lighting have the:
Double-Ended HQI Metal Halide M81 Ballast
Specifically the M81 Ballast?
I don't know too much about the specific ballasts or if that is simply a standard...?
It looks like the seller has a good business, only a very few amount of negatives, as opposed to positives.

[cmor1701d]

The M81 ballast is an ANSI standard, so most fixtures are M81 compliant.

He does do a lot of business. I think I'll order a set and see how it goes. I can get 3 bulbs for just slightly more than the price of 1 brand name bulb.

Thanks Scott.

[roka64]

Anytime and thanks for the info!

[cccapt]

I bought 2 175 14K SE bulbs from Greatdel for like $10 each. The bulbs had a 60 day warranty. One lasted about 45 days and the seller replaced it. The other bulb lasted about 3 months.
I've been using metal halide bulbs for almost 20 years and NEVER had a bulb actually go out. I always just replaced them after 12 months. These 2 bulbs would not fire after a relatively short time. They did have nice color, but I don't know what kind of PAR they have.
Back to name brand bulbs for me.

[timbo2]

I have purchased the 175 watt SE type bulbs from trustdeals and they are awesome. Have not had any problems. I wish they were around when I had to pay the $70 a bulb. Everyone has their own opinion, but for the money, these are great to me.

[cmor1701d]

Thanks Timbo. I bought 3 of the 150w DE from trusdeals and I agree that thy are awesome. I expected to see a difference from my 1 yr old bulbs but these are so much brighter (subjectively).
I just wish I had a meter to check PAR throughout the tank.

If they last they are the deal of the year.