Aquarium Lighting
Tropical aquatic plants and animals are used to twelve hours of strong natural sunlight a day. Aquarium Lighting is very important if you want your aquatic life to thrive.
Most common aquariums are sold with basic Aquarium Lighting (generally a standard fluorescent light). This may be OK for fish only aquariums; however, your fish won’t thrive and this tank lighting is not suitable for marine reef aquariums or tropical planted freshwater aquariums. To encourage your marine life to breed and flourish you need to provide full spectrum aquarium fish lighting.
In this article I’ll explain the types of Aquarium Lighting that can be installed and their benefits to your aquarium fish tank.
Once you have read this article you may be interested in browsing a selection of aquarium lighting products. Click this link to view products- Fish Tank Lights Store.
Natural Sunlight.
Using natural sunlight for fish aquarium light needs is not only difficult to do properly, but has many disadvantages that outweigh the advantages. Not all locations have consistent sunlight and channelling that sunlight through skylights or windows into your fish tank won’t provide direct sunlight for twelve hours a day. Sunlight will also cause algae blooms requiring additional cleaning and it will heat smaller fish tanks up causing temperature problems. Aquarium Lighting needs to be controlled and specific to your type of fish aquarium.
Aquarium Lighting for Healthy Plants
Plants manufacture sugars during photosynthesis. Using the correct Aquarium Lighting will promote healthy growing plants and reduce unwanted algae growth.
Blue and red light maximizes the photobiological process in plants. Special fluorescent bulbs will do the job; however for best results trichromatic bulbs are best as they resemble natural sunlight. Aquarium lights using these bulbs high in blue light also stimulates feeding and breeding behaviour with your aquatic life.
Actinic Aquarium Lighting
Actinic light will grow micro algae (Zoaxanthellae algae) essential for feeding corals and other invertebrates. This type of fish tank lighting gives out a lot of blue light and may require other lighting to keep your tank visually pleasing. It is best to use one actinic lamp and two daylight lamps for every 30 gallons of water for marine reef aquariums. Another alternative is to use 50/50 light bulbs which provide balanced Aquarium Lighting giving great visual appeal and promoting healthy corals.
Metal Halide Lighting
Of all the Aquarium Lighting possibilities, metal halide lights provide the most concentrated and intense light suitable for deep planted tropical freshwater aquariums and saltwater reef aquariums supporting corals and clams. Visually this type of tank lighting provides the best effect. Metal halide tank light will light up the aquarium, giving a ‘sparkling’ affect like a natural tropical marine reef or a crystal clear tropical freshwater weeded stream.
You will need one light for every 2-3 feet of aquarium and don’t buy the cheaper mercury vapour lights as they give off too much yellow light.
The downside to this type of aquatic lighting is that the lamps get extremely hot. You will require cooling fans and often a chiller. Lights must be kept away from splashing water and you must never look at them directly.
Compact Fluorescents
These are simply bent fluorescent tubes designed to give twice the light in half the area are suitable for fish only aquariums.
Lunar Aquarium Lighting
Using LED lights can enhance the landscape of your fish tank aquarium. They don’t get hot, draw very little current and last a long time. They create a night time glow in your fish tank (like moonlight) that encourages reproduction and growth of your aquatic life. This form of lighting will promote night feeders, and some aquatic species will actually fluoresce under lunar Aquarium Lighting.
Helpful Tips with Your Aquarium Lighting
Fish tank glass tops will filter out 95% of your beneficial Aquarium Lighting. You can purchase glass tops that maximize high quality tank light.
The deeper your aquarium the more light it will need in order for the plants and animals to survive at the bottom. Every fifteen inches of depth, add a lamp.
Aquarium lamps loose their light spectrum as they get older. The first light to go is blue light (the most important one). You may not notice the light deteriorate. Replacing the aquarium lamps every 6 to 8 months will ensure your aquarium receives the correct spectrum of light.
The ‘T’ value of fluorescent aquarium lights represents the diameter of the tube. For example T-5 bulbs are skinny and T-12 bulbs are fat.
In Conclusion
Lighting is the most important aspect in terms of keeping your aquatic life, in particular corals healthy and alive. It is worth doing your research and find out what Aquarium Lighting each of your invertebrates need, as each species will have differing requirements.
Having done this, go out and get some strong full spectrum Aquarium Lighting for your fish tank. Click this link to shop for aquarium lights for your aquarium- Fish Tank Lights Store.