Aquarium Lighting for Reef Tanks
When choosing aquarium lighting for reef tanks, be sure you use the right sort of full spectrum bulbs that can really light your reef up. One of the best things about a brilliantly coloured reef system is how you can almost make the vertebrate creatures glow with the right sort of lighting.
If you've decided upon creating and maintaining a fully-functional reef tank, you've probably also put a great deal of time and effort into learning as much as you can about each of the creatures that will inhabit it. Making sure you can really show them off and give them a normal diurnal schedule is the job of aquarium lighting for reef tanks.
Low Power Lamps
If you are just setting up for the first time, you may not realize there are several types of just fluorescent bulbs available, each with a different frequency response. Those that produce a high efficiency, full-spectrum light are perhaps the most valuable for reef tank use.
Some people have a back up black light they use for special occasions, or in conjunction with regular fluorescent lamps. Some people find them less powerful than they'd like and use combinations of such lamps to provide sufficient candlepower.
Before buying such lamps, check to see how many lumens they produce – this is a measure of how much relative light is perceived by the human eye. Some lamps are manufactured to withstand the rigours of a marine environment, and their metal pieces will resist corrosion for longer.
High Power Lamps
Some people elect to use a type of metal halide lamp for aquarium lighting for reef tanks. While high-pressure sodium lamps, such as those commonly found in parking garages, cast a definite yellow glow, mercury vapour lamps (HgV) will give the blue and red cast that really sets off bright colours.
Generally the drawbacks of these lamps are their relatively high cost, high power consumption (aka heat dissipation from the ballast) and frequent replacement schedule. While HgV lamps may continue for a long time, the quality of light is very seriously degraded after just a short time, compressing the available bandwidth. Again, be very careful since these are not designed for marine applications, especially given the high power required that can cause arcing.
Moon Lamps and Ultra-Low Power Designs
Sometimes you want to view the reef, even if it's late. You may easily install some very low power lamps, especially now with the advent of bright blue and white LEDs. Small arrays of these placed along a row will provide plenty of illumination for night viewing without disturbing the livestock.
Installing such aquarium lighting for reef tanks is easy, because the low, direct-current power consumption make them very easy to work with.
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