About Aquarium Lights

The lights in an aquarium are very different from the ordinary lights that we might use in our homes. All forms of life need lights to thrive and fish in the aquarium are no different. Lighting is very important for aquariums as it helps to make your fish more comfortable and have a healthy life span. Light are the basic requirement in an aquarium. Aquarium lights mainly depend upon the type of plants and fish you have in your aquarium.

There are mainly two types of aquarium lights namely fluorescent or incandescent lighting system. Fluorescent lights help to keep the fish healthy as they closely resemble natural light. It improves visibility of your fish. Incandescent lights should be normally avoided, as they are not suitable for most small fish tanks. These types of aquarium lights give hot spots in the fish tank that harm or even kill sensitive genres of fish. There are many types of fluorescent aquarium lights such as:

* Standard fluorescent bulbs are popular for tanks with low intensity. These bulbs normally come in aquarium kits and hoods. The depth of the tank size varies according to the number of bulbs and the brand.
* Another type is the fluorescent aquarium plant bulbs that are specially created for freshwater-planted tank. This bulb fits in almost all the fluorescent lightning fixtures.
* Only a blue range of spectrum is produced by the Marine actinic blue fluorescent bulbs in which the wavelength travels furthest in water. These types of bulbs are very useful for low-light mini reef or saltwater tank.
* The fluorescent bulbs namely HO bulbs and VHO bulbs give a very high output. As compared to normal bulbs, these bulbs are much more intense and are very useful for aquariums, which are very deep.

There are certain other general requirements of aquarium lights related to aquatic plants and other living organisms like:

* Any aquarium light must be able to provide at least 3 watts of light per one-gallon water, which is around 30 watt for a normal size aquarium.
* Living organisms other than aquatic animals like ferns, rocks, corals, plants need proper aquarium lights to survive.
* Growing corals need proper aquarium lighting. While growing corals you need to know that they are highly sensitive to light.
* Corals needs very large amount of light between 5 to 8 watts.
* Most aquarium fish need up to 12 hours of light.
* A freshwater aquarium needs proper lighting.
* It is also necessary to grow healthy aquatic plants.

Nowadays, acrylic lightning is used in aquariums as it imparts light that is similar to natural light and also helps the viewers see the elements of the aquarium more clearly. It adds brilliance to the display. Other types of aquarium lights are

* Power compacts lights are a source of light that are more intense than the traditional fluorescent bulbs as they do not heat up much and save on energy.
* Another popular type of lights is the metal halide, which was created in 1960.

Thus, proper aquarium lights are necessary for making the fish tank look attractive and for proper care of the fish.