Are all bulbs created equal?

[ga_daisy]

I'm in a "rebuilding phase" with my system and thinking about various lighting options. I have 2 400 watt electronic ballast and have been running XM 20K bulbs. Both bulbs need to be replaced. Here is my question.....

I have a friend that works at Batteries Plus. He looked up on their online ordering system 400 watt MH bulbs. Is there anything "special" or DIFFERENT in the commercial grade (these seem to be used for commercial refrigeration applications as well as utility lamps) and the bulbs sold to us in the aquatic stores?

The bulbs that he found are said to have 24,000 hrs of use and produce 5100 lumens. Would these work in my ballasts? Will these work for our reef aquatic application?

 

[seth the wine guy]

I would not recommend using those bulbs. Get nice new Radiums and get what you pay for.

 

[wineman]

Seth The Wine Guy;810423 wrote: I would not recommend using those bulbs. Get nice new Radiums and get what you pay for.

+1
Only bulb I use.

 

[enderg60]

Yes there is A LOT different. And NO you do not want to use commercial bulbs, they will be VERY yellow and will not have the right spectrum of light you want.

 

[ga_daisy]

Thanks.....I figured that would be the issue.