Where to buy HO/VHO T5s locally? *edit with solution*

[PASoracco]

Members in the US and specifically California, where the heck do you buy HO or VHO T5 lamps?! I have been to quite a few local stores and chains (petclub, petsmart, petco) and haven't been able to find them and when I do they have absolutely no selection. I should have just bought them online when I got the fixture, but wanted to avoid the outrageous lamp shipping fee. Now I'm stuck with two ulllllltra blue tubes in my fixture which bug me, and will give no real benefit to my plants.

also, if anyone orders them online, from where? is there any place that doesn't have some huge fee for shipping the oversize and fragile tubes? Marine depot will ship 46-72" tubes for free but you have to order 6 after buying all this other equipment, its going to kill me to spend 120+ on lamps. suggestions

[Rubix]

You'll never find any cool specialty stuff in the big box stores (petsmart, petco, petland, etc), whether it be fish or aquarium accessories. It's your mom & pop, hole in the wall stores that can get you and might stock irregular items and fish. The local privately owned stores will usually order almost anything you need, just talk to them. I've always enjoyed getting know the people who work there and the owners, these relationships always prove to be beneficial. I always avoid the big box stores, but the small ones are going under everyday

[PASoracco]

for anyone interested, I ended up finding marineandreef.com. They shipped my 48" T5 HO tubes in a well padded "fragile" box, separate from the rest of my order for no additional cost. I sent them an e-mail and they said they will do any number of any size for free; a great deal!

the only issue I had with them was it took them a few days to put my order together and ship it while most places these days will try and get it out the same or next day; minor complaint.