Light is essential for the healthy growth for fish, plants, corals and bacteria How is lighting measured? Wattage — the amount of energy used Kelvin — the color of the lighting low is a warm color, high is a cool color Lumens — its brightness as perceived by the human eye for general illumination PAR Photosynthetically Active Radiation — the light that is useful to grow plants and beneficial algae.
Unlike plants, fish do not have a biological need for light, so they require less. Natural sunlight at noon has a rating of Kelvin. To provide animals and plants the lighting they need, 10 to 12 hours a day is sufficient. Installing a timer or purchasing a unit with integrated timing can make lighting easier——just set it and forget it.
Switch on your aquarium lights if this appears to be the case, to ensure they get 8 to 12 hours of light per day. However, it is also just as important that they do not get too much light. This is mainly due to excess light being a huge cause of algae overgrowth. Whilst excess algae growth is more commonly linked to natural sunlight and having your aquarium directly in the path of it, it can also be the result of too much supplemental light.
Either way, it is a nightmare to get rid of when it takes a hold of your aquarium, and not very attractive. If you do find that your aquarium is suffering from an algae bloom, you should reduce the time your supplemental lights are on.
There are a number of fish that can help you clean your aquarium by eating excessive algae. Another really popular algae eater is the siamese algae eater which is sold in their thousands each year across the world and a great hardy freshwater fish that will eat a huge amount of algae. Useful Tip: Some algae in your aquarium is beneficial as it is a source of food for some species of fish. It may not be your first thought but it should be taken into consideration that, not only does aquarium lighting produce light, but it also produces heat.
This means, that your choice of lighting has the potential to heat your aquarium and cause problems with your fish. This is especially true of smaller aquariums where the possible increase of temperature could be high. The main lighting culprits of heating aquarium water are incandescent, VHO-fluorescent, and metal halide and you should monitor water temperature if you choose to use these.
Lower heat output lighting includes normal fluorescent and LED. LEDs emit light as exited subatomic particles pass through a semiconductor material i. This requires relatively lower energy, producing a bright light that is both efficient and delivers on brightness for up to 50, hours.
A diverse range of uses includes supplemental lighting or major lighting for aquatic tanks. These have fast become the most popular way to light your aquarium. Long gone are the days of lighting your fish tank with dangerous red hot light bulbs are unreliable fluorescent tubes that where the starters constantly break.
LED lights are cool, inexpensive, easy to fit and very reliable. They also are available in many color spectrums for both saltwater and freshwater plant growth. Making them the first choice for most aquarists. We highly recommend the Koval LED Light which has 5 spectrum settings making it perfect for freshwater or saltwater aquariums.
It would be incredibly fair to say that in no way have we answered the question of how long to leave your aquarium lights on exactly! It is also good to leave the aquarium lighting on longer in the winter when natural light is less due to the season.
This will promote better growth and healthier aquarium plants. As the days lengthen, the aquarium lighting period can be shortened.
When it comes to the fish themselves, aquarium lighting is mostly about you, not them. Lighting in an aquarium makes it easier for you to see and enjoy your fish, but it usually does not affect the fish all that much.
The nature of an aquarium, with its four glass sides and relatively small size, means that most fish are getting more light than they do in natural settings, whether or not you are using supplemental lights. Most fish do not mind getting more light. A few species, such as cichlids and tetras, thrive on less light, and for these, too much supplemental aquarium lighting may affect them negatively.
Consider the conditions that a species experiences in the wild when determining how much extra lighting, if any, is required. Tropical fish have evolved under conditions that provided roughly 12 hours of light each day, so logic suggests that an aquarium with tropical fish will likely need a combination of ambient and aquarium lighting for roughly half the day.
On the other hand, cold-water species such as goldfish, minnows, ricefish, and danios zebrafish are from temperate climate zones where the daylight hours vary according to the season. For these fish, you might want to vary the amount of light over the year.
To create a more natural environment, match the length of aquarium lighting to what the species experiences in its native environment. If excess algae is a problem in the aquarium, a contributing factor is usually too much light. Too much light causes more algae growth.
Reduce the time the aquarium lights are on to eight hours, or a bit less if necessary, to help reduce the algae growth. Monitoring algae levels can, therefore, help you determine if your lighting levels are appropriate. If you begin to see excessive algae, shorten the periods of light to retard the algae growth.
But remember, you do not want to have too little light on for the aquarium plants,. Direct sunlight tends to create more algae than does artificial light.
An aquarium near a sunny window may require less supplemental lighting than one on an interior wall. The biggest obstacle to maintaining a uniform period of aquarium lighting is that owners find it difficult to turn the lights on and off at the same time each day.
Fortunately, there is an inexpensive and easy way to remedy that problem. Purchase an on-off timer and plug the lighting unit into it. On-off timers are highly recommended for all aquarium owners.
Remember that aquarium lights may not only produce light—but many produce heat, and sometimes a lot of it. Lighting types that produce heat include incandescent, VHO-fluorescent, and metal halide.
In smaller aquariums, these types can cause a significant rise in water temperature, sometimes enough to kill your fish and plants.
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