Cold cathode fluorescent tubes (CCFLs) have been around forever, backlighting the first flat screens, some emergency lights and most importantly, the undersides of cars. More than a few curious reefers tried to use Cold Cathode t00bs for lighting some nano tanks but until now, there really hadnt been a practical solution for using these safely over reef tanks. Enter German lighting maker SDM (we don’t know what it stands for) who is showing off some CCFLs specifically designed for lighting up petite aquariums, a la nano reefs.
These CCFLs are packed two by two into a clear T5 sleeve so that they can more easily be adpated for aquarium use. We believe these are being overdriven jsut slightly, where each CCFL is pushing 3 watts per 12″/25cm for a total power of double that number. These were brighter than your run of the mill CCFL but not quite bright enough for use on anything larger than a true nano.
