Lighting & Electrical - Underwater Eco Systems

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Choosing the Right Aquarium Lighting

The importance of lighting your home aquarium cannot be overstated. Choosing the correct lighting conditions and settings goes beyond merely illuminating your underwater world for appearance sake, it is also vitally important to the health of your fish. Just as care must be taken in selecting the right filtration and heating system, proper aquarium lighting is also an important factor for the overall well-being of your fish.

Aquarium Lighting and the Health of Your Fish

Improper lighting can cause fish undo stress and inhibit their growth and coloration. Overhead aquarium lighting simulates the day-night cycle of your aquarium -- it is essentially the sun of your fish's biosphere. Tropical fish require a twelve-hour day-night cycle (just like the normal cycle at the equator) in order that they properly develop healthy and regular patterns for eating, resting, and spawning.

When live plants are added to the home aquarium, the quality and duration of light becomes even more important. Not only is a plant's growth and health effected by the quality of the light present, but the nitrogen cycle of the plant and its release of oxygen in the water are directly related to the cycle established by overhead aquarium lighting.

Fluorescent or Halogen Aquarium Lighting?

Fluorescent bulbs are the best choice for the home aquarium. Incandescent (regular household bulbs) and halogen lighting do not contain the necessary light spectra for plant health. Halogen lighting may be a cheaper alternative in the short term, but such bulbs heat the water unnecessarily, and use more power and have a shorter lifespan than fluorescent lighting.

Fluorescent lighting is readily available in a variety of types. Fluorescent bulbs, which can last more than a year in many cases, are commonly sold in a tube-shape that conforms to the standard hood lighting systems that are the most widely-used by home aquarists. A standard hood, fluorescent bulbs, and a timer should be considered an excellent basic set-up for your home aquarium lighting needs.