How would you like a 105 watt daylight lamp that is self ballasted and $25? Although fluorescent lamps in the aquarium world are dominated by T5 tubes, in other markets the SHO CFL is king of fluorescent lighting. By comparison, any decent quality T5 tube might cost upwards of $30 per lamp for only 50 watts and without a ballast. So why have SHO CFL laps not caught on in the aquarium hobby? Probably simply because no lighting companies have brought these lamps to market specifically for the marine or freshwater aquarium industries. Afterall, why would a company want to make $5 on a 100 watt aquarium light when they could make $50 on a handful of T5 tubes, ballast reflectors etc? In any case, other growers have taken note of the super cheap and efficient lighting power that SHO lamps can offer. Fans of pendant style lighting will absolutely love the vertical or horizontal orientation capabilities of SHO CFLs and although a good quality reflector will set you back a good $50. Like most commercial lighting products, the SHO CFLs are mostly available in warm white, daylight and cool white colors, (4000, 5000 and 6500K) but that won’t stop reefers from pairing these up with some form of blue supplemental lighting. American Aquarium Products is one of the few vendors we have found which is selling the SHO CFL lamps specifically for aquarium use but at $25 for 105 watts, we hope that some aquarium manufacturers and vendors will consider bringing other SHO lamps to the aquarium hobby.
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