i use a shoplight, but i don't have plants, and i don't plan on changing the bulbs unless they bust. My lights are merely for looking at the fish
Why do they cost so much?
- Thread starter tamccain
- Start date
Aquarium supplies are believe it or not a small market. When you have to engineer a light for use on a particular size aquarium, that costs money. Then you have to have the molds made, that cost money. Then you have to do or contract for the components, that costs money. The whole thing has to be assembled and certified for safety, another couple of costs. The package has to be designed and produced, more costs. This has to be repeated for each size tank. Small-run production process are are much more expensive than bulk production - always have been and always will be. Just like car parts for a specific model. Aquarium equipment, task-designed and produced, will always be much more expensive than mass production utility equipment.
Sorry, I'm an idiot. Thought we were talking about the lights, not the fixtures. Now that I've got it straight, one reason I've found for buying the fixtures at my LFS is that they fit in my hood. I looked everywhere for those little skinny fixtures that would fit in my particular hood and couldn't find them anyplace. My local HW store sold fixtures, but they were hoods unto themselves. Just my 2 cents.
shop lights rule. I'm glad I didn't waste a couple hundred on a custom hood & fixture. I just use a shoplight with 1 daylight bulb & 1 aquarium specific bulb.
RTR said:
I understand your argument, but I don't believe that the things we are buying are "small run" productions. I mean when All Glass produces something they are making a mass produced product that really shouldn't be that expensive. Plus there aren't THAT many different tank sizes that they make the lights for. You got like 20" 24" 36" 48" 60" 72" and maybe a couple odd sizes. That isn't that many different sizes for the strips to be so expensive.
It is still a long way from mass market, especially when divided among the many tank sizes. And I did not even mention the overhead cost of maintaining warehouse quantities for distribution.
Lighting for Aquaria is a niche market. Not everyone has an aquarium. Lighting for housing is a mass market. Everyone has to live somewhere.tamccain said:
Why do they take your name and address when you buy batteries at radioshack? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop? There are just some things we may never know.
Well I guess one way to look at it is this. Think how many houses are in your street. How many light bulbs are used in all those houses? How many aquarium bulbs are used in those houses? The ratio could be a hundred to one, or more.
Still, it doesn't mean I like paying more for aquarium specific lights. But I did and it's a once only purchase, so I don't mind as long as it lasts for years to come.
Still, it doesn't mean I like paying more for aquarium specific lights. But I did and it's a once only purchase, so I don't mind as long as it lasts for years to come.
