400w MH cheap or not?

[saltwater4life]

I found this and if it's a good deal i might get it and save it for when i get a bigger reef tank
eBay: 400 Watt Metal Halide Ballast Coral Reef Aquarium Light (item 130055377561 end time Dec-10-06 20:38:16 PST)

BTW i dont know anything about MH's so i was also wondering if it came with everything (besides the bulb)

Thank you again,
Nick

 

[Mushroomman]

Price seems too good to be true.... hmmm. if its that much for bulb + ballast + cords.

 

[kevin4052002]

Price looks good for something that might be from the 80's.

 

[KahluaZzZ]

looks like the one i used for plants.
the bulb is so hot, one water splash on it and boom...

 

[TRe]

i dont know how well it would work in a fish tank but it would turn yur closet in to a forest

 

[Xeruf]

ya its best to have 2 250s, that bulb is pretty big like 5" in diamiter

 

[FWSWBW]

Hi all, been gone for a while had surgery..any way I would have bought it for that price you could always buy new bulb and rig up a reflector & splash guard..the ballast was worth that plus some. I wish I had seen that it would have been mine. Most of MH that are DIY look similar to that..check out what 1 bulb sells for in that size wattage, also there are cool running MH now. You shouldn't have problems with water splash if you have a partial glass canopy. Hope you got it*SUNSMILE*

 

[KahluaZzZ]

yeah but still you could use a retrofit kit with a 100$ electronic ballast and socket that support mogul bulbs, then buy a 20$ reflector that you can find in hydroponic stores..those are the same as most of the ones found in LFS, but for 30$ less

 

[KahluaZzZ]

BTW i had a MH(+/sodium conversion) lamp like this and OMG the ballast was so noisy. Even tough in a closet you could hear it.