# New 55 gal.



## Guest (Mar 8, 2011)

If anyone is interested, I have had my new 55g tank up and running for over 2 months now. I installed the new SHO lighting. 2- 85w pendants. I have them on a 12 hour cycle. So far they are doing much better than I expected. I am super glad I took the chance and bought them. The best thing is there is hardly any heat at all. Algae is under control very well. I have a few algae eaters to help. Appx. $200.00 and a little DYI. So if you are setting up a new tank and are up to trying something new, I would highly recommend these lights. Hardly any cost to run them. But I can only attest to their use as pendants. I posted 3 pics of the tank in my gallery. I am really glad I bought these lights...................... I also have CO2 going.


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

I've been reading up on the SHO CFL lighting, glad to see someone has it up and runing with good results.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Have to agree even if I have not used the sho.

Just a plain old incandescent hood over a 10g with two clfs does wonders.

no reason that would not also work with these larger bulbs.


my .02


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

I'm in a state where I need to upgrade my lighting. What exactly is SHO and how do you go about acquiring/building it? Is it better than VHO?

Sorry, I must sound like a complete dunce right now.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

[email protected] said:


> I'm in a state where I need to upgrade my lighting. What exactly is SHO and how do you go about acquiring/building it? Is it better than VHO?
> 
> Sorry, I must sound like a complete dunce right now.


As was I also.

SHO stand for

da da

super high output.


one is super large spiral pig tail lights that screw into incandescent sockets but instead of 15-25w they put out like 85w.

also 6400k

my .02


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

beaslbob said:


> super high output.
> one is super large spiral pig tail lights that screw into incandescent sockets but instead of 15-25w they put out like 85w.
> also 6400k


Gotta get me some good reflectors for those puppies or I'll melt the housing.


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2011)

[email protected] said:


> I'm in a state where I need to upgrade my lighting. What exactly is SHO and how do you go about acquiring/building it? Is it better than VHO?
> 
> Sorry, I must sound like a complete dunce right now.


You can go to; "american aquarium products.com" I bought mine there. The reflectors are great.[pendant]They have all ya need, all you will need to get at the harsware is the power cord. Good Luck


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

And from what I understand the heat put out by them is just like a standard FL. the only thing you need a reflector for it is to get the max out of the light it produces. 1incandescent bulb puts out more heat than 2 SHO CFL bulbs.

Also if I'm not mistaken you can pick these bulbs up at your local wallmart for pretty cheap. most costly would be the reflector shown in billy's photo gallery.

Correction wallmart only has CFL not the SHO CFL.


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## Guest (Mar 9, 2011)

mec102778 said:


> And from what I understand the heat put out by them is just like a standard FL. the only thing you need a reflector for it is to get the max out of the light it produces. 1incandescent bulb puts out more heat than 2 SHO CFL bulbs.
> 
> Also if I'm not mistaken you can pick these bulbs up at your local wallmart for pretty cheap. most costly would be the reflector shown in billy's photo gallery.


With the 2- 85w bulbs I have going there is almost no heat at all. A differant set up in a hood might be a bit warmer ? I really don't know if you can get these at Walmart. But I doubt it. If ya can I might get more......They make a 105w also...


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

I'm interested in hearing more about SHO, but I'm leery of WalMart selling anything that I could grow plants with.

I'm thinking about buying a retrofit kit from here:

36 or 55 watt Bright Kits

2x36Watt T5HO fixture, with 1 6700K and 1 5500K bulbs. Thoughts?


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

GTM - from what i've read the SHO CFL are the T5HO bulbs/balist in one package and a lot cheaper (minus the reflector which i've seen a good one can be upto 50ish$?).

But all in all the SHO CFL are more durable less expensive and last longer than the standard FL.

I posted a link in my first reply, read what it has to say and follow the link included in the article.

Here's 2 links with more informaiton.

Freshwater Aquarium Plant Care; Substrate, Ferts, CO2, and Lighting.

SHO, CFL Lights, Compact Fluorescent, Lighting, Lamps, Bulbs for Hydroponics, Aquarium


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

For smaller aquariums, and we are talking lighting for a 20g here, I believe any savings in going with a SHO bulb is a wash. Not when I can get a "complete" T5HO fixture, ready to go in 30sec from the box, for $65 if I want 2-bulbs or $99 if I want a 4-bulb algae machine. Even the lowest wattage of for 2 SHO is $64 but then I need a decent reflector or I've wasted my money and I need to mount in a way that is acceptable to me, or whomever buys it. For the most part I think people prefer things that are visually appealing over shop lights on top of an aquarium. This would drive the cost up of course.

It would nearly take you to at least the lighting required of a 75g to get where you start seeing any cost savings from a SHO setup, as this is also the brink of where T5HO fixtures start to cost more. IMHO. Although, a T5HO, 4ft/4-bulb can be had for $150 or 2-bulb for $90. 

T-5 bulbs can last well beyond a year and have heard of people seeing beyond 2, and 24" bulbs are only $9. Not saying that SHO doesn't have merits, but I think for smaller tanks cost savings can't be the driving reason because I just don't see how its there. Maybe my math is wrong?


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## slowpoke (Mar 6, 2011)

[;82224]I'm in a state where I need to upgrade my lighting. What exactly is SHO and how do you go about acquiring/building it? Is it better than VHO?

Sorry, I must sound like a complete dunce right now.[/QUOTE]

don't worry, the dunce is the person who won't ask a question because they are afraid of looking like a dunce.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

In the interest of feeling guilty because I'm thread hijacking here, I'm going to conclude my remarks here and anybody that would like to take up the conversation can migrate over to my "Lux measurements - need to upgrade lights" thread. Here are my concluding thoughts:

@mec - that's awesome! I'm going to Home Depot tomorrow and shopping for those very things. I'm planning on buying two 65Watt SHO bulbs, 2 reflectors, and 2 sockets, then some eye bolts, drywall anchors, and some thin suspension material to suspend the lights from the ceiling in my room.

@jrman - I would love to say my light suffices for my tank, but the truth is I've got low light at the bottom of the tank since it's a tall tank. Gotta look at amping it up somehow, and I just hit the jackpot.

Thanks guys, and now, on to the other threads!


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> For smaller aquariums, and we are talking lighting for a 20g here, I believe any savings in going with a SHO bulb is a wash. Not when I can get a "complete" T5HO fixture, ready to go in 30sec from the box, for $65 if I want 2-bulbs or $99 if I want a 4-bulb algae machine. Even the lowest wattage of for 2 SHO is $64 but then I need a decent reflector or I've wasted my money and I need to mount in a way that is acceptable to me, or whomever buys it. For the most part I think people prefer things that are visually appealing over shop lights on top of an aquarium. This would drive the cost up of course.
> 
> It would nearly take you to at least the lighting required of a 75g to get where you start seeing any cost savings from a SHO setup, as this is also the brink of where T5HO fixtures start to cost more. IMHO. Although, a T5HO, 4ft/4-bulb can be had for $150 or 2-bulb for $90.
> 
> T-5 bulbs can last well beyond a year and have heard of people seeing beyond 2, and 24" bulbs are only $9. Not saying that SHO doesn't have merits, but I think for smaller tanks cost savings can't be the driving reason because I just don't see how its there. Maybe my math is wrong?


I'll toss this out there as I not familar with the warranty it for the light fixtures. But I'd imagine with the T5HO 2 bulb setup you would have the switch, 2 balists, 2 bulbs, and 4 connector pins that hold the bulbs that could all fail on the fixture and require replacment in order for the fixture to work "properly". The you have the cost of powering the lights.

Now consider the SHO CFL which require a reflector (expensive side 50$) and regular socket (ceramic 2$ LHS) for installation and then the SHO CFL (price depends on which one you get). Now you can decide on the installation and how much that would cost but you can either place the reflector face down on the top (little to no heat to worry about) or creat an ellaborate light setup that you want. The power required over times saves you money against the T5HO, and you only have 2 things that could break down the light or the socket, both of which can be kept on hand for minimal additional cost as immediate backups.

But again it's all about preference.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

mec102778 said:


> I'll toss this out there as I not familar with the warranty it for the light fixtures. But I'd imagine with the T5HO 2 bulb setup you would have the switch, 2 balists, 2 bulbs, and 4 connector pins that hold the bulbs that could all fail on the fixture and require replacment in order for the fixture to work "properly". The you have the cost of powering the lights.
> 
> Now consider the SHO CFL which require a reflector (expensive side 50$) and regular socket (ceramic 2$ LHS) for installation and then the SHO CFL (price depends on which one you get). Now you can decide on the installation and how much that would cost but you can either place the reflector face down on the top (little to no heat to worry about) or creat an ellaborate light setup that you want. The power required over times saves you money against the T5HO, and you only have 2 things that could break down the light or the socket, both of which can be kept on hand for minimal additional cost as immediate backups.
> 
> But again it's all about preference.


The only major difference in parts is the ballasts, but for a fixture there is only one. Both units will have switches I assume, unless the person building a SHO setup is just lazy.

There is no cost saving in power. Wattage is wattage. If you have a 65W SHO (single bulb, lowest wattage), it will use more watts than a 48W T5HO, 2-bulb fixture. It will cost more to power a single SHO bulb vs 2-24W T5 bulbs.

By your price estimation it will cost at a minimum $100+ to get going with a single bulb SHO setup. Providing a decent reflector exist in the price range you mention. If I can get it all with a $65 T5HO setup, it would take me a few years of bulb replacements and even throw in a ballast replacement before I would equal the same cost. Replacement ballast is $11, replacement bulb is $9. Now throw in the cost to power it and I'm still better off with a T5HO.

This is all based off of lighting a 20g tank. Lighting cost exponentionally grow with the size of the tank. SHO may equal or save some money in the long run on a much larger tank...at least 75g or above. It also requires some skills to make it look not so ghetto and appealing to the eye. I'm not trying to down doing a DIY setup. But this doesn't have the cost saving of doing the same thing with 26W spiral CFLs that you get from Lowes. These lights start at $32 each. It doesn't even save money on power cost.


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

I will have to do some more reading.  new DIY project coming soon...


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

At work so I couldn't read it all but it's a good read.

Aquarium Lighting; Kelvin, Nanometers, PAR, Bulb, Watt, MH, LED, Light Basics.


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## Guest (Mar 9, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> For smaller aquariums, and we are talking lighting for a 20g here, I believe any savings in going with a SHO bulb is a wash. Not when I can get a "complete" T5HO fixture, ready to go in 30sec from the box, for $65 if I want 2-bulbs or $99 if I want a 4-bulb algae machine. Even the lowest wattage of for 2 SHO is $64 but then I need a decent reflector or I've wasted my money and I need to mount in a way that is acceptable to me, or whomever buys it. For the most part I think people prefer things that are visually appealing over shop lights on top of an aquarium. This would drive the cost up of course.
> 
> It would nearly take you to at least the lighting required of a 75g to get where you start seeing any cost savings from a SHO setup, as this is also the brink of where T5HO fixtures start to cost more. IMHO. Although, a T5HO, 4ft/4-bulb can be had for $150 or 2-bulb for $90.
> 
> T-5 bulbs can last well beyond a year and have heard of people seeing beyond 2, and 24" bulbs are only $9. Not saying that SHO doesn't have merits, but I think for smaller tanks cost savings can't be the driving reason because I just don't see how its there. Maybe my math is wrong?


As for visually appealing, the SHO lights I bought are not shop lights on the top of my aquarium. I posted a pic of the two with reflectors and like the look very much. I have had several people here comment very posetivly on them. As a mater of fact several of my friends have bought the same set-up. and as for cost, I never said there was any great savings. Altho I doubt if I will ever have to buy a bulb again or pay anymore to the power company using them. Some people just seem to be against anything new. The SHO lights IMHO are well worth the money and are just as cost effective as T5HO lighting. I still will recommend them. I know first hand how well my tank and plants have responded to them. I won't make any more comments here about SHO lighting.


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

billeboy7071 said:


> I still will recommend them. I know first hand how well my tank and plants have responded to them. I won't make any more comments here about SHO lighting.


It's all about preference here, recommend away and tell from your experience. have no experience except for what i've read with either type of lighting. But I'm super interested in fish keeping and moving to live plants so and time I can get a discussion going with people that are active, I will and maybe plays devils advocate just to keep the conversation going.


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