Aquarium Lighting
Now that you know what size your aquarium is to be, it's time to decide what sort of aquarium lighting and hood you'll need to keep the surface of the water well lit without heating. The plants and animals in the tank will assist you in choosing the right lights for the situation.
Then, once you've assembled a magnificent collection of marine animals, you're going to want to show them off a bit. Even the simplest systems require some sort of aquarium lighting, if for no other reason than to give the plants and animals something like a diurnal cycle to deal with.
Setting the Stage
For starters, you'll want to measure the dimensions again. If you've made the tank yourself, you might have difficulty finding the exact correct measurements. Leave room for someone to comfortably fit behind the aquarium to come by and clean the tank. You'll also want to make sure there's room for everything, including electrical cords and heating elements typically found along the outside rim of the tank.
Choosing the Right Light for Your System
When contemplating aquarium lighting
for reef tanks, you'll want to really make sure you show the corals off at their best. Most folks just starting out with saltwater tanks will start with the same hoods and lights as from freshwater systems, and they almost always take fluorescent tubes. They are low power and cast off little waste heat, though the useable spectrum does compress over time and (even when new) tends to emit an uneven spectrum that is more useful for plants than animals. Some FL tubes are considered to be particularly wide spectrum (such as the "plant lights"), though they wear out quickly. Very high output (VHO) lamps are the best choice in fluorescents.
Other types, such as those used with reef systems, have different spectrums and life expectancies. However, metal halide lamps quickly loose their effective spectrum also, despite their high prices. They also require particularly heavy and expensive ballasts. These bulbs do, however, provide a tremendous amount of lumens or candlepower.
Calling All Self-Supporters
Some people prefer to make their own DIY aquarium lighting that will give them some flexibility in highlighting the best aspects of their new aquarium set-up. The best lights are those that cast very little heat energy outward – it's far harder to cool a tank than to heat one.
Most choose to use either fluorescent lighting or LED lamps that cast a sort of "moonlight" and run on DC power. This causes far less of heat dissipation and can be used for nighttimes applications. There is no shame in asking anyone who might know, or reading a few books on saltwater aquariums.
Coral Magazine
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