Go with the Hydrofarm at that price.

Disregard everything on that ebay site. For one thing, those are NOT even fluorex lights. The're also $185 with shipping--I was looking at the opening bid price. WAAAY too much $$$.

it seems like you would lose a lot of light without the reflector coming off of it
Not really. You've gotta keep the tubes so close to your plants-- 1 to 2" if heat permits -- that those "side flaps" are going to be irrelevant. You can make something like that out of car dash-reflector stuff if you 'must' have it. The built-in reflector in the Hydrofarm light is probably vastly more effective than on that eBay light.


I could have stopped reading when I got to this:
You can intensify light levels further since the cool running F54T5â??s can be laid right on top of the plants without burning them.
That's absolutely stupid. Totally incorrect. The guy's got a bit of negative feedback, too. Go figure...




So, are you going to use this for a vegging light, or to flower? (Or both?) You might need to think about bulb choices. :smokin: