Lighting Easy

Lighting is one of the most important pieces of equipment in a reef aquarium. The proper lighting intensity is required for your corals or invertebrates to survive. Similar to plants, corals and many invertebrates require light for photosynthesis to generate energy. If your corals and invertebrates do not receive enough light for photosynthesis, they will not survive.

Generally, the VHO (Very High Output) fluorescent and PC (Power Compact) fluorescent lighting systems are great for corals that require low to moderate lighting, such as leather corals, mushrooms, polyps, and LPS corals. The Metal Halide systems are great for corals that require intense lighting. SPS corals, clams, and anemones would best survive in a system with metal bulbs. Many hobbyists will supplement metal halide lights with VHO (or PC) lights to simulate a dusk/dawn effect and to add more blue coloration to the tank.

Basic principles of aquarium lighting:

The lighting used in an aquarium is governed to a large extent by whether the tank is to contain live plants. If the tank does not contain plants (or only plastic plants), then the light provides a means to view only the fish. The choice of lighting is then only governed by choosing a light, which enhances the colors of fish. A light intensity of around 10W per square foot of water surface area is sufficient for this purpose (e.g. a 40W fluorescent tube for a tank with a base measuring 48×12″). Fluorescent tubes are the most commonly used form of lighting in aquariums. They are available in a range of sizes and colors spectrums to suit different tanks and applications.

1. Fish-only tanks:

For the fish-only tanks, lighting requirements include using pre-manufactured lights to have the possibility of using them for keeping “some” reef life.

The basic fundamentals of NO/Standard and VHO fluorescent tubes, such as how CRI or Kelvin determines a bulb/lamp’s color frequency, how wattage is beneficial and why it’s important, and fluorescent tube wattage comparisons. Depth simulation has also played a part in the lighting selection process.

2. Plant planted tanks:

Plant Planted tanks needs more light than fish only tanks, and the type of lighting becomes more important. The light requirement of different plant species varies somewhat, but generally the light will need to be at least double that recommended for a fish only tank, i.e. 20W per square foot of tank surface area.